What is it about?
The study showed overweight population are likely to have worse LV diastolic function and greater LV mass in East Asian population
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Why is it important?
People in East Asia are known to be more vulnerable to the effects of weight gain on cardiovascular outcomes. However, the mechanisms behind such impact are still unknown. This study helped to fill the part of the knowledge gap using the largest number of study participants and also the first report of the East Asian population. It showed increased body weight was associated with worse LV diastolic function. Furthermore, the odds of overweight individuals for having diastolic dysfunction was more than two times higher than the normal weight individuals. Its odds ratio was much higher than the odds previously reported from the study from New York City. Hence, it suggests the Japanese population may be more susceptible than Western individuals to the effect of weight gain on LV diastolic function.
Perspectives
In 2009, President Obama signed an Executive Order calling for strategies to improve the health of Asian Americans and to seek data on the health disparities in Asian American subgroups. Data on Asian American subgroups are scarce and many health disparities remain unknown. Today, Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial/ethnic group in the United States, representing 25% of all foreign-born people in the United States. They are projected to reach nearly 34 million by 2050. Obesity and overweight individuals are likely to develop diastolic heart failure, which amounts to half the population with heart failure. Because no pharmacological treatment has been shown to be effective for diastolic heart failure, the prevention is utmost important. The study results imply that differences between ethnicities should be taken into consideration in strategies for the prevention of diastolic heart failure.
Dr Tetz Cheng-Che Lee
Columbia University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Relationship of Left Ventricular Diastolic Function to Obesity and Overweight in a Japanese Population With Preserved Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction, Circulation Journal, January 2016, Japanese Circulation Society,
DOI: 10.1253/circj.cj-16-0381.
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