Obesity is a modern-day issue. Many factors contribute to developing obesity, including a bad diet that consists of fast food, too much office work and sedentary lifestyle, as well as a lot of stress that this hectic way of life has brought to us.
Obesity has numerous negative effects on our standard of life and
our health. Our cardiovascular system, namely our heart, is under a lot of stress when having to deal with the excess weight. A heart attack is a real threat when it comes to obesity consequences.
There are 5 ways obesity can cause a heart attack:
1. Affecting your heart’s function
Obesity can lead to atrial fibrillation. It is a fast and irregular heartbeat (also called arrhythmia) of the hearts upper chamber. This condition can lead to the formation of a blood clot that can cause heart failure or some other heart-related issue. Obesity can also cause the enlargement of your heart, as a result of untreated hypertension. The extra weight of your body also puts stress onto your heart during the relaxation phase of the cardiac cycle. This means you’ll probably have higher pressure, which ultimately can lead to heart failure. More precisely, high blood pressure caused by the excess weight can also irritate plaque in the arteries. This makes the arteries susceptible to rupturing, which could
ultimately cause a heart attack.
2. Obesity can cause sleep apnea
Excess weight can lead to the development of sleep apnea, which is not only highly annoying but it can also lead to high blood pressure and heart disease. Recent research has shown that overweight people who suffer from apnea are more prone to hypertension, cholesterol issues like high triglycerides but also type 2 diabetes. In short, triggering sleep apnea due to obesity can further lead to serious heart issues.
3. Obesity leads to other factors related to heart attack
Factors that can lead to a heart attack on their own include hypertension, cholesterol abnormalities, and type 2 diabetes. And they can all be triggered if you suffer from excess weight. Being obese can also lead to metabolic syndrome, but numerous other factors that lead to the development of serious heart conditions, including high blood sugar levels, large waist circumference (35 or more inches for women,
40 or more inches for men), as well as low level of good cholesterol (HDL). Your waist measurements really do matter – it is important where the extra weight is distributed in your body. If you have significant amounts of belly fat (abdominal or central obesity), you will be more prone to hidden inflammations.
Too much belly fat also increases your triglyceride levels, which ultimately lead to ruptures of the plaque in arteries. So, its not just about your overall weight – its also about the amount of fat around your waist. As its quite difficult to remove the excess belly fat, especially if the person is in no shape to exercise, many people explore options recommended by experts from Central Coast Surgery and others about procedures that could reduce their weight faster.
4. Obesity and its connection to hidden inflammation
There is yet another way how obesity can ultimately lead to a heart attack. Obese people are prone to hidden inflammations. The inflammatory factors it causes also increase the risk of development of atherosclerosis. The inflammation can also lead to the formation of plaque in the arteries, which can rupture after some time as there are obesity-related substances that get into the bloodstream and
cause ruptures. The ruptures can then easily cause a heart attack. In plain words, being obese is like constantly sending broken glass into our arteries.
5. The dangers of metabolic syndrome and diabetes
Maybe its not completely clear to you just how metabolic syndrome and diabetes are related to obesity and how they can ultimately lead to a heart attack. In short, the more fat you have, the more your body gets insulin-resistant. Consequently, this will trigger your body to produce more insulin, which then leads to storing more fat. It is a vicious circle. The longer this circle lasts, the higher are chances you will develop type 2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome. Unfortunately, they triple the chances of you getting a heart attack at some point.
Final comment
Obesity significantly lowers your standard of life, affecting many areas of your everyday life. However, it is safe to say that the effects obesity has on our hearts is one of the most important reasons why you should fight this condition in any way you can. Our hearts have their limits when it comes to dealing with the excess weight and its better not to test those limits.
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