Study Seems To Confirm “Obesity Paradox”: Being Overweight Protects Heart Patients

A new U.S. study confirms the so-called “obesity paradox”: in both men and women with advanced heart failure, obesity (determined by body mass index) reduced the risk for adverse outcomes, including death, the need for a heart transplant, and the need for ventricular assist device placement. Researchers analyzed data on 2,718 advanced heart failure patients treated at UCLA Medical Center from 1983 to 2011. Conversely, both men and women with a normal BMI and waist circumference were at a substantially higher risk for adverse outcomes.