From the BMI Paradox to the Obesity Paradox: the Obesity-Mortality Association in Coronary Heart Disease
Despite a strong association between body weight and mortality in the general population, clinical evidence suggests better clinical outcome of overweight or obese individuals with established coronary heart disease. This finding has been termed the ‘obesity paradox’, but its existence remains a point of debate, because it is mostly observed when body mass index (BMI) is used to define obesity.
Inherent limitations of BMI as an index of adiposity, as well as methodological biases and the presence of confounding factors, may account for the observed findings of clinical studies. In this review, our aim is to present the data that support the presence of a BMI paradox in coronary heart disease and then explore whether next to a BMI paradox a true obesity paradox exists as well.
We conclude by attempting to link the obesity paradox notion to available translational research data supporting a ‘healthy’, protective adipose tissue phenotype.
Read more

March 2023
Inflammation and cholesterol as predictors of cardiovascular events among patients receiving statin therapy
In these contemporary data from 31 245 patients who are receiving statin therapy, residual inflammatory risk appears to be more…
Read more

March 2023
Pericoronary Adipose Tissue as a Marker of Cardiovascular Risk
JACC Review Topic of the Week. In this review the authors aim to summarize the role of PCAT in cardiac…