WEDNESDAY, May 2 (HealthDay News) — A large new study is thefirst to show a direct link between a high body-mass index and therisk of developing heart disease, British and Danish researcherssay. Body-mass index (BMI) is a measurement based on height and weight.People with a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 are normal weight while thosewith a BMI of 30 or more are obese. Those in between are deemedoverweight. For the study, the researchers analyzed data from more than 75,000people in Copenhagen and found that those with a high BMI had a 26percent increased risk of developing heart disease. Furtheranalysis using genetic and other data showed that a BMI increase of4 points increases the risk of heart disease by no less than 52percent. "By doing epidemiological studies combined with geneticanalysis, we have been able to show in a group of nearly 76,000persons that a high BMI is enough in itself to damage theheart," Borge Nordestgaard, chief physician at CopenhagenUniversity Hospital, said in a university news release. "Observational studies have also suggested a relationshipbetween heart disease and obesity, but that is not enough to provea direct correlation. Obese people can share characteristics orlifestyle traits that have an influence on both the heart andweight. Or there can be a reverse causality, that is, it is thediseased heart that causes obesity and not the other wayround," said Nordestgaard, who is also a clinical professorin the health and medical sciences faculty at the university. The study was published May 1 in the journal PLoS Medicine. Study co-author Dr. Nicholas Timpson, a lecturer in geneticepidemiology at the University of Bristol in England, noted in thenews release: "In light of rising obesity levels, thesefindings are fundamental to improving public health. Our researchshows that shifting to a lifestyle that promotes a lower BMI— even if it does nothing else — will reduce the oddsof developing the disease." More information The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and KidneyDiseases has more about the health risks of being overweight . – Robert Preidt SOURCE: University of Copenhagen, news release, May 1, 2012 Last Updated: May 02, 2012 Copyright 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Healthy Slim Coffee Manufacturer , China Male Sex Enhancer Pills for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Natural Slimming Pills.
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