Even a little extra weight plus physical inactivity can raise the risk of heart failure, according to a study published in the Dec. 23 issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

 

The study analyzed data from the Physicians’ Health Study which included 21,091 men ages 40 to 84 at enrollment. They had no coronary heart disease at the beginning of the study. They were followed for a period of 20 years.

 

The study found that in men who were 5 feet 10 inches tall, for every seven pounds (3.2 kg) of excess body weight, their risk of heart failure rose on average by 11 percent over the next 20 years. Overall, the risk of heart failure increased by 180 percent in men who met the definition of obesity (their BMI was 30 and higher) and by 49 percent in men who met the definition of overweight (their BMI was 25 to 30).

 

“Whereas previous studies have established that obese men have a higher likelihood of developing heart failure, the present investigation has extended this knowledge by pointing out that even overweight or pre-obese men are not spared from this increased risk,” said Dr. Satish Kenchaiah, who did the research as a epidemiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and is now at the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

 

Heart failure, the condition in which the heart fails to pump enough blood in the body, is deadly for about 300,000 Americans annually. About 660,000 new cases are diagnosed each year and 80 percent of the men and 75 percent of the women aged 65 and older who are diagnosed with heart failure die within eight years.