There’s No Such Thing as Overweight and Heart Healthy

Research shows that carrying extra pounds, even with normal blood pressure and cholesterol levels, can pose a cardiac risk.

There has long been an idea that if a person is overweight, but has other cardiovascular risk factors in check, the heart disease risk is low. However, recent research says that obesity or even being overweight is enough to put a person at risk even if other risk factors are not present. The study, published in the December issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, contradicts some longheld notions about heart risk and should be a wakeup call for anyone who believes obesity alone can’t put them at risk of a heart attack or stroke, according to Leslie Cho, MD, director of Preventive Cardiology and Rehabilitation at Cleveland Clinic and the physician editor of Heart Advisor.