Why being overweight hurts your heart
Causal relationship of excess body weight on cardiovascular events through risk factors
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Chronic kidney disease alone doesn’t mediate cardiovascular risk—only when it’s caused by diabetes or hypertension.
Most public health messaging links kidney disease directly to heart disease. This study shows CKD is more of a symptom than a cause in overweight people, which contradicts common assumptions.
Practical Takeaways
Get your fasting blood sugar and blood pressure checked annually—even if you feel fine—especially if your BMI is 23 or higher.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Chronic kidney disease alone doesn’t mediate cardiovascular risk—only when it’s caused by diabetes or hypertension.
Most public health messaging links kidney disease directly to heart disease. This study shows CKD is more of a symptom than a cause in overweight people, which contradicts common assumptions.
Practical Takeaways
Get your fasting blood sugar and blood pressure checked annually—even if you feel fine—especially if your BMI is 23 or higher.
Publication
Journal
Scientific Reports
Year
2022
Authors
T. Limpijankit, P. Vathesatogkit, Dujrudee Matchariyakul, S. Wiriyatanakorn, Sukanya Siriyotha, A. Thakkinstian, P. Sritara
Related Content
Claims (6)
Carrying extra weight makes it more likely you'll have a heart attack or stroke because it pushes up your blood pressure, messes up your cholesterol, and causes body-wide inflammation.
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), 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.
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.
If you're overweight (BMI 23 or higher) and have kidney disease by itself, it doesn’t really raise your risk of heart problems. But if your kidney disease is caused by high blood pressure or diabetes, then your risk of heart issues goes up a bit.