The rate of deaths from ischemic heart disease related to obesity nearly tripled in the U.S. over a two-decade span, according to new research.
The rate for men more than tripled. Black adults, middle-aged men, and people living in the Midwest and non-metropolitan areas had the highest rates in 2020, the study found. Ischemic heart disease occurs when narrowed arteries reduce the flow of blood and oxygen to the heart muscle.
This can lead to a heart attack. "Obesity is a serious risk factor for ischemic heart disease, and this risk is going up at an alarming rate along with the increasing prevalence of obesity," the study's lead researcher Dr. Aleenah Mohsin said in a news release .
She is a postdoctoral research fellow at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Obesity also contributes to other risk factors for heart disease, including high cholesterol, high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes and sleep disorders. The findings will be presented Sunday at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions in Chicago.
They are considered preliminary until full results are published in a peer-reviewed journal. Researchers analyzed age-adjusted data from 226,267 deaths attributed to obesity-related ischemic heart disease. The data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's WONDER database was collected from 1999 to 2020.
Overall, the rate of heart disease deaths associated with obesity increased by about 180%. Researchers also looked into whether specific demograp.
