title: The relationship between obesity and coronary artery disease.
abstract: Obesity continues to be a growing issue in the United States, with an estimated prevalence of 72 million people. There are major health implications associated with obesity, including its relationship with hypertension, diabetes mellitus type 2, metabolic syndrome, and dyslipidemia, all independent risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD). Despite the increased risk of developing CAD, in recent years an "obesity paradox" has been described in which moderately obese individuals with established cardiovascular disease, including CAD, appear to have mortality similar to their normal-weight counterparts. This review examines the relationship between obesity and CAD, including the increased risk of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome, and dyslipidemia, along with a discussion of the obesity paradox and the benefits of weight reduction.
authors.affiliation: John Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute, Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, Ochsner Clinical School-The University of Queensland School of Medicine, New Orleans, La. Electronic address: eimanjahangir@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Eiman
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jahangir
authors.affiliation: John Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute, Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, Ochsner Clinical School-The University of Queensland School of Medicine, New Orleans, La.
authors.forename: Alban
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: De Schutter
authors.affiliation: John Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute, Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, Ochsner Clinical School-The University of Queensland School of Medicine, New Orleans, La; Department of Preventive Medicine, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University System, Baton Rouge, La.
authors.forename: Carl J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Lavie
mesh_terms: D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications*; D012307:Risk Factors