Healthy Weight Is A Must For Heart Patients

Overweight or obese people taking medications to cut heart disease risk can't benefit from drugs alone. They need to exercise regularly and maintain healthy weight.

A study by researchers from Wake Forest University School of medicine in Winston-Salem, NC examined 6814 people aged from 45 to 84. From 60% to 85% of participants were overweight and from 30% to 50% were obese, depending on demographic group. These figures mean that obesity is an epidemic, affecting quality of life of most Americans.

Previously, researchers were believed in genetic background of obesity, and there were significant differences between ethnic groups because of genetics. Now this difference has gone and all ethnic groups have almost the same percentage of obese people, meaning that obesity is caused by environmental factors. However, Chinese-Americans still have the low percentage of obese population - 5%.

The research also urges that because of obesity epidemic heart problems will start occurring more often. There was a slight 50 year decline in cardiovascular death rates, but the decline is expected to stop soon. Moreover, researchers predict major heart death rates among baby boomers. The study urges that baby boomer will live even less than their parents did and they will have lower quality of life. These problems will come because of significantly high obesity rates.

Previous researches showed that heart risk caused by obesity can be reduced thanks to high cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure treatment. This is true for those who have a serious, unpreventable reason for being overweight. However, it doesn't necessarily mean that those eating unhealthy food and paying no attention on exercising and healthy lifestyle can benefit from several pills a day.

The study urges that people need to understand that pills can't help if they keep living an unhealthy life. Those overweight and obese will face heart risk despite of medications they take. This is why researchers urge the need of regular exercising and maintaining healthy weight before heart problems come to them, because it's easier to prevent a disease than to correct it.