Fat around your organs can hurt your heart—even if you're not overweight
471-P: The Visceral Adiposity Index Predicts MACE Both in Cardiovascular Disease Patients with and in Those without Diabetes
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Scientists tracked heart patients for nearly 10 years to see who had heart problems. They found that people with more fat around their organs (measured by VAI) had more heart events, even if they didn’t have diabetes. People with diabetes also had more heart events, no matter their fat levels.
Surprising Findings
VAI predicted heart events even in non-diabetic patients, and its effect was statistically significant after adjusting for diabetes.
Many assume visceral fat only matters because it’s linked to insulin resistance and diabetes—but this shows it’s harmful on its own, even when diabetes is ruled out.
Practical Takeaways
If you have heart disease, ask your doctor for your VAI score—it’s calculated from routine measurements (waist, BMI, triglycerides, HDL) and may reveal hidden risk.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Scientists tracked heart patients for nearly 10 years to see who had heart problems. They found that people with more fat around their organs (measured by VAI) had more heart events, even if they didn’t have diabetes. People with diabetes also had more heart events, no matter their fat levels.
Surprising Findings
VAI predicted heart events even in non-diabetic patients, and its effect was statistically significant after adjusting for diabetes.
Many assume visceral fat only matters because it’s linked to insulin resistance and diabetes—but this shows it’s harmful on its own, even when diabetes is ruled out.
Practical Takeaways
If you have heart disease, ask your doctor for your VAI score—it’s calculated from routine measurements (waist, BMI, triglycerides, HDL) and may reveal hidden risk.
Publication
Journal
Diabetes
Year
2023
Authors
M. Maechler, L. Sprenger, A. Mader, B. Larcher, A. Vonbank, T. Plattner, A. Leiherer, A. Muendlein, H. Drexel, C. Saely
Related Content
Claims (4)
Having diabetes and having high visceral fat (measured by VAI) each add their own separate risk for heart problems in people with heart disease — knowing one doesn’t tell you everything about the other.
Visceral adiposity is an independent predictor of cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality, irrespective of total body mass index.
People with heart disease who have more fat around their organs (measured by a simple formula using waist size and blood fats) are more likely to have serious heart problems like heart attacks or strokes, whether or not they have diabetes.
People with heart disease who also have type 2 diabetes are about 55% more likely to have a heart attack, stroke, or die from heart problems than those without diabetes — even when you account for other risk factors like weight and cholesterol.