The more you weigh, the more likely you are to have a heart attack earlier in life, highlights a new study out of Duke.
When cardiologists studied data on more than 111,000 people who had suffered infarctions, they found that those with a BMI of 30 or higher experienced their attack up to 12 years earlier than their counterparts.
“That’s a pretty profound difference,” says cardiologist Dr. Eric Peterson, M.D., a co-author of the study. A person 5 feet, 7 inches tall who weighs 192 pounds has a BMI of 30.
The mechanism behind the study’s conclusion: Obese people are more likely to have other risk factors for heart disease, such as diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. “But even after adjusting for those factors, just being heavy added considerable risk,” says Peterson.
To keep your ticker beating strong after you hit middle age, go ahead and shed that baby fat. There isn’t much time to waste.