Almost all cardiovascular diseases are associated with extra pounds.. But scientists have found that after some heart procedures, overweight patients experience fewer heart attacks, and their survival rate is higher than in patients with normal and low body weight..

American experts reviewed 36 studies and found that obese patients are 27% less likely to die after such procedures, angioplasty or coronary bypass surgery, compared with patients with a normal and low BMI.

But scientists warn that under no circumstances should obesity be considered healthy..

“We want to be very clear that we are in no way promoting the health benefits of obesity.. When we talk about root causes of coronary diseases, obesity and overweight are among these causes.. But it turned out that after undergoing angioplasty or bypass surgery, the outcomes of such patients are better, ”says one of the authors of the study, Dr. Abhishek Sharma, a cardiologist at the Downstate Medical Center of the State University of New York (Brooklyn).

The results of the meta-analysis have been published in a new issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings..

About 2/3 of American adults are obese or overweight. A body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 29 is considered an indicator of being overweight; BMI of 30 and above is a criterion for obesity.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1,000,000 angioplasties and coronary artery bypass grafts are performed in this country each year.. Moreover, 70% of patients who undergo such procedures are obese or have extra pounds..

Looking at data from 36 studies that included a total of several tens of thousands of people, Dr. Sharma and his colleagues determined the following:. Patients with insufficient body weight (BMI below 20) after operations on coronary vessels during 1.7 years of follow-up were 2.7 times more likely to suffer myocardial infarction, including fatal cases. At the same time, the cardiovascular risk in patients with a BMI of 25-30 was lower compared to those who had a normal body weight (BMI of 20-25).

Dr Sharma says there are several possible reasons that could explain this difference in cardiovascular risk and survival.. First, overweight patients are much more likely to be prescribed cardioprotective drugs, statins, and beta-blockers, and at higher doses.. In addition, CVD in lean patients is more likely to be due to genetic causes than to modifiable risk factors such as diet and exercise..

Be that as it may, the study cannot prove that excess body weight is directly responsible for better survival.. Scientists have simply demonstrated the existence of such a connection..

Dr. William Zoghbi, medical director of the Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center, observed that the obese and overweight patients included in this study were, on average, 7 years younger than the lean patients admitted to the operating room..

This only suggests that overweight people develop coronary artery disease several years earlier..

“I would be very careful when drawing conclusions from this study.. These studies (included in the meta-analysis) were not intended to assess the impact of different body mass indexes on cardiovascular health, which would be very important.. We have definitely wrong conclusions. The correct conclusion is that obesity should be avoided, not treated for its consequences,” says Professor Zogby.

medbe. en.