In the Middle East, people who are overweight or obese and have a heart attack are more likely to also have diabetes, high blood pressure, or bad cholesterol—but they’re not more likely to die in the hospital than thinner patients.

In the Middle East, about two out of every three heart attack patients are overweight or obese, which means excess weight is a big problem for this group.

If you're middle-aged and carry extra weight (even if you're not obese), you're 34% more likely to have a heart attack or stroke over the next 17 years — even if you don’t have diabetes, high blood pressure, or kidney disease. This suggests your extra fat might be harming your heart in ways we don’t fully understand yet.

In the Middle East, people who have had a serious heart attack and are overweight are more likely to have another heart problem or bleed badly afterward than those who are a normal weight.