If you’re overweight (BMI 23 or higher), having type 2 diabetes explains about a quarter of why you’re more likely to have heart problems — meaning diabetes is a big reason why extra weight hurts your heart.

For people who are overweight (BMI 23 or higher), high blood pressure is responsible for about 1 in 5 of the extra heart attack and stroke risk — it’s the second biggest reason after diabetes that extra weight leads to heart problems.

If you're overweight (BMI 23 or higher) and have both diabetes and high blood pressure, these two conditions together are responsible for about 19% of your extra heart disease risk — and they make things much worse when they happen at the same time than if you had just one of them.

For some people with type 2 diabetes who are overweight, losing weight through diet and exercise can lower their chance of having a heart attack or stroke—but for others, it might actually increase that risk.

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.

For people with type 2 diabetes, factors like age, weight, blood sugar levels, and past heart problems can tell us whether losing weight through diet and exercise will help or hurt their heart health.