“Recent work has shown that inflammatory markers, namely, IL-6, CRP and fibrinogen, are more strongly related to fatal than nonfatal cardiovascular events. As obesity is increasingly recognized as an inflammatory state, this is a potential etiological pathway to account for the increased risk of fatal CHD events seen with obesity,” the investigators wrote.
Dr. Logue said in an interview, however, that the culprit was far from clear. “It could be inflammation,” she said. “But there’s also upcoming evidence around structural changes to the heart caused by obesity, which could mean your heart can’t cope as well when you’re having a heart attack.” But more important in any case, she said, is to learn whether the risk of a fatal CHD event is mitigated by weight loss.
“I’d rather see the resources put into looking to see if we can get people’s weight down and preventing people getting to this weight in the first place,” Dr. Logue said.