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Large waistline increases risk of death from heart complications

Category: Heart Health and Cholesterol

Individuals who have a large waistline may want to consider cholesterol testing, as a new study has found that the risk of death from all causes is extremely high for these people. Cardiovascular disease is among the top killers.

Researchers from the American Cancer Institute analyzed the results from the Cancer Prevention Study II, an investigation that began in the mid 1990s involving more than 10,000 participants. The information provided in this study included measurements of waistline. For the current study, researchers tracked the medical records of participants through 2006.

They found that individuals who had the largest waistlines (47 inches or larger for men and 42 inches or larger for women) were more than twice as likely to die during the follow up period compared to the rest of the participants.

Eric Jacobs, who led the investigation, said that excess fat increases an individual's chances of experiencing cardiovascular complications like high cholesterol, hypertension and heart attack.

He added that doctors should begin taking these factors into consideration when they are discussing risk factors for developing heart complications with their patients.