This Article Free upon publication Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Poirier, P. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Poirier, P. Related Collections Obesity Epidemiology

(Circulation. 2008;117:3057-3059.)
© 2008 American Heart Association, Inc.

Editorial

Healthy Lifestyle

Even If You Are Doing Everything Right, Extra Weight Carries an Excess Risk of Acute Coronary Events

Paul Poirier, MD, PhD, FRCPC

From the Department of Cardiology, Institut Universitaire de Cardiologie et de Pneumologie, Hôpital Laval, Québec, Canada.

Correspondence to Paul Poirier, MD, PhD, FRCPC, FACC, FAHA, Faculty of Pharmacy, Laval University, Institut Universitaire de Cardiologie et Pneumologie/Hôpital Laval, 2725 Chemin Ste-Foy, Ste-Foy, Québec, Canada G1V 4G5. E-mail Paul.Poirier@crhl.ulaval.ca

Key Words: Editorials • obesity • risk factors

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

	Introduction

 
Epidemiological, metabolic, and clinical studies conducted over the last few decades have identified important factors that contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Accordingly, several modifiable (smoking, blood pressure, lipid/lipoprotein and glucose levels, diabetes mellitus, poor diet, lack of physical activity/exercise, obesity, and psychosocial factors) and nonmodifiable (age, gender, and genetic predisposition) CVD risk factors are now recognized in contemporary clinical practice.¹ The health hazards of obesity have been recognized for centuries,² and in 1998, obesity was reported as a major modifiable risk factor for CVD by the American Heart Association.³

Article p 3062

In this issue of Circulation, Jensen et al⁴ report an analysis of the associations of obesity (defined by body mass index [BMI]) in combination with physical activity, smoking, and a Mediterranean diet with the risk of acute coronary syndrome (ACS; defined as unstable angina pectoris and nonfatal and fatal acute myocardial infarction) in a prospective, population-based study of 54 783 middle-aged men and women. The investigators found that the association between BMI and ACS was strong and graded, and the absolute risk was substantially higher among men. Behavioral risk factors such as smoking, relative physical inactivity, low adherence to the Mediterranean diet, and having the lowest alcohol intake were all associated with a higher risk of ACS. Of importance, BMI was associated with risk of ACS at all levels of classic behavioral lifestyle risk factors: physical inactivity, smoking, and unhealthy diet. These findings suggest that obesity is important even in subjects who adhere to . . . [Full Text of this Article]

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P. Poirier Cardiologists and abdominal obesity: lost in translation? Heart, July 1, 2009; 95(13): 1033 - 1035. [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. E. Lewis, K. M. McTigue, L. E. Burke, P. Poirier, R. H. Eckel, B. V. Howard, D. B. Allison, S. Kumanyika, and F. X. Pi-Sunyer Mortality, Health Outcomes, and Body Mass Index in the Overweight Range: A Science Advisory From the American Heart Association Circulation, June 30, 2009; 119(25): 3263 - 3271. [Full Text] [PDF]