Fat Around Your Heart Could Be Especially Deadly
Medically reviewed by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, May 25, 2021 -- Too much fat around your heart could increase your risk of heart failure, especially if you're a woman, researchers warn.
They looked at nearly 7,000 45- to 84-year-olds across the United States who had no evidence of heart disease on initial CT scans. Over more than 17 years of followup, nearly 400 developed heart failure.
High amounts of fat around the heart -- pericardial fat -- doubled women's risk of heart failure and increased men's risk by 50%, according to findings published online May 24 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
"For nearly two decades we have known that obesity, based on simple measurement of height and weight, can double one's risk of heart failure, but now, we have gone a step further by using imaging technology to show that excess pericardial fat, perhaps due to its location close to the heart muscle, further augments the risk of this potentially fatal condition -- heart failure," said lead researcher Dr. Satish Kenchaiah, an associate professor of medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.
His team took into account known risk factors for heart failure such as age, tobacco and alcohol use, inactivity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol and heart attack.
But no matter whether people were thin, overweight or obese, excess fat around the heart increased the risk of heart failure.
The link between pericardial fat and heart failure was similar among all racial and ethnic groups in the study.
Kenchaiah said the findings are an important tool to group patients into higher and lower risk groups and could lead to better ways to prevent and treat heart disease.
"Additional studies are needed to confirm our findings," he added in a Mount Sinai news release. "Future research in this field should also focus on ways and means, such as eating a heart-healthy diet and staying physically active, to achieve and maintain optimal body weight and reduce and avoid fat deposition around the heart."
Updated May 28, 2021. Misidentified gender. Corrected "Her team" to "His team" and "she added" to "he added".
Sources
- Mount Sinai, news release, May 24, 2021
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted May 2021
Read this next
Wegovy Linked To Lower Heart Risks Than Similar Drugs, Study Shows
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 3, 2025 — The weight-loss drug Wegovy may lower the risk of heart attack, stroke or death more than similar medications, according to new research from its...
Shingles Vaccine, Shingrix, Might Protect Against Heart Attack, Stroke
FRIDAY, Aug. 29, 2025 — The shingles vaccine not only protects against the painful skin infection, but also might provide heart health benefits, a new study says. Shingles...
Plant-Based Diet Protects Against Multiple Chronic Illnesses
FRIDAY, Aug. 29, 2025 — Shifting to a plant-based diet can help keep people from being plagued by multiple health problems as they age, a new study says. People whose diets...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.