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Review
. 2022 Apr;24(4):185-195.
doi: 10.1007/s11883-022-00996-x. Epub 2022 Mar 2.

Overweight, Obesity, and CVD Risk: a Focus on Visceral/Ectopic Fat

Dominic J Chartrand  1   2 , Adrien Murphy-Després  1   2 , Natalie Alméras  1   2 , Isabelle Lemieux  1 , Eric Larose  1   3 , Jean-Pierre Després  4   5   6
Affiliations
Review

Overweight, Obesity, and CVD Risk: a Focus on Visceral/Ectopic Fat

Dominic J Chartrand et al. Curr Atheroscler Rep. 2022 Apr.

Abstract

Purpose of review: Despite its prevalence and well-documented impact on population health, obesity has not emerged as a strong independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease after control for intermediate risk factors. The purpose of this brief narrative review is to highlight results from imaging studies that have not only documented the remarkable heterogeneity of body fat topography but also the importance of visceral adiposity as a key body fat depot associated with cardiovascular disease risk and type 2 diabetes.

Recent findings: Simple tools are also discussed in order to refine cardiometabolic risk assessment in persons with overweight/obesity. It is proposed that four lifestyle vital signs should be considered in clinical practice to improve discrimination of health risk in individuals with overweight/obesity: waist circumference as a simple marker of abdominal adiposity, cardiorespiratory fitness, overall diet quality, and level of reported physical activity. Heterogeneity of obesity is proposed as an example of a condition that would benefit from a precision lifestyle medicine approach.

Keywords: Cardiometabolic health; Cardiovascular disease; Ectopic fat; Lifestyle habits; Obesity; Visceral adipose tissue.

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References

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