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Review
. 2014 Nov-Dec;8(6):e540-8.
doi: 10.1016/j.orcp.2013.12.005. Epub 2014 Jan 6.

Mechanisms of heart failure in obesity

Imo A Ebong  1 , David C Goff Jr  2 , Carlos J Rodriguez  3 , Haiying Chen  4 , Alain G Bertoni  3
Affiliations
Review

Mechanisms of heart failure in obesity

Imo A Ebong et al. Obes Res Clin Pract. 2014 Nov-Dec.

Abstract

Heart failure is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality and its prevalence continues to rise. Because obesity has been linked with heart failure, the increasing prevalence of obesity may presage further rise in heart failure in the future. Obesity-related factors are estimated to cause 11% of heart failure cases in men and 14% in women. Obesity may result in heart failure by inducing haemodynamic and myocardial changes that lead to cardiac dysfunction, or due to an increased predisposition to other heart failure risk factors. Direct cardiac lipotoxicity has been described where lipid accumulation in the heart results in cardiac dysfunction inexplicable of other heart failure risk factors. In this overview, we discussed various pathophysiological mechanisms that could lead to heart failure in obesity, including the molecular mechanisms underlying cardiac lipotoxicity. We defined the obesity paradox and enumerated various premises for the paradoxical associations observed in the relationship between obesity and heart failure.

Keywords: Heart failure; Mechanisms; Obesity.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
An illustration of the mechanisms of heart failure in obesity
Figure 2
Figure 2
Magnetic resonance images at end-diastole and end-systole in one lean and one obese subject, respectively (reproduced with permission from oxford university press) [15].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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