As obesity increases, heart disease deaths follow – a slideshow

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Key Takeaways

Obesity-related deaths in the U.S. have significantly increased from 1999 to 2020, as per the American Heart Association study.
Obesity is closely linked to ischemic heart disease, contributing to risks like high cholesterol, hypertension, and Type 2 diabetes.
Data from CDC WONDER highlights the urgent need for interventions to address obesity's impact on cardiovascular health.

‘We did not anticipate this magnitude of increase in mortality,’ expert researcher says.

Researchers did not anticipate the magnitude of an increase in deaths related to obesity from 1999 to 2020, according to a new study published by the American Heart Association (AHA).

The prevalence of obesity in patients has been rising for years in the United States, so it stands to reason the nation would see an increase in deaths related to obesity, said lead author Aleenah Mohsin, MD, MBBS, a post-doctoral research fellow at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

But there is a striking connection between obesity and ischemic heart disease caused by the narrowing of arteries in the heart. That in turn can lead to less blood and oxygen reaching the heart muscle, possibly resulting in heart attack. Obesity contributes to heart disease risks, including elevated cholesterol, high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes and sleep disorders, according to AHA.

This slideshow presents key findings from the study. All data come from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Wide-Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (CDC WONDER). AHA published the analysis, along with the illustration used in this presentation.