Author Interviews, Weight Research / 03.12.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Gurmukh Singh, MD, PhD, MBA Department of Pathology, Section of Clinical Pathology Walter Shepeard Professor of Pathology Section Chief, Clinical Pathology. Associate Medical Director, Clinical Laboratory GRMC and Children's Hospital of Georgia MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you briefly explain what is meant by the obesity paradox? Response: Obese people tend to get more diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes, cancer etc. However, when they get seriously ill, e.g., sick enough to require admission to intensive care treatment unit (ICU), obese people tend to have better outcomes than normal weight people. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, Weight Research / 11.03.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Sadiya S. Khan, MD MS Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine Department of Preventive Medicine Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Chicago, Illinois MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: In recent years, controversy has grown regarding findings termed the "obesity paradox" whereby individuals with cardiovascular disease who are obese have "better" outcomes. These findings have led to confusion for patients who are obese. The main findings of our study help clarify the adverse cardiovascular risks for obese individuals with a shorter overall health span and lifespan. Obese participants in our study lived shorter and sicker with more years lived with cardiovascular diseases and greater lifetime risk of developing cardiovascular disease.  (more…)
Author Interviews, JACC, JAMA, Weight Research / 05.03.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “physical-activity-120112-M-2021D-019” by MilitaryHealth is licensed under CC BY 2.0Trine Moholdt, PhD Research Fellow Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging | Exercise, Cardiometabolic Health and Reproduction Norwegian University of Science and Technology MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?   Response: Although obese individuals have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, evidence from many observational studies shows that in those who already have cardiovascular disease, being overweight or obese is associated with lower risk of mortality compared to their normal weight counterparts. This phenomenon is often called the “obesity paradox”. Recently we observed that in individuals who have a high physical activity level, there is no such obesity paradox and body mass index did not associate with survival time in those who with high physical activity (Moholdt et al, American Journal of Medicine, 2017).  (more…)
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Stroke, Weight Research / 17.07.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Hugo J. Aparicio, MD, MPH Assistant Professor Vascular Neurology, Department of Neurology Investigator, The Framingham Heart Study www.framinghamheartstudy.org Boston University School of Medicine Boston, MA 02118-2526 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The association of body weight with survival after stroke has been studied before and is a controversial topic. Results have varied between studies and have often been contradictory. The observational findings that carrying extra weight can be protective after having a disease, like stroke or heart attack, has been called an obesity paradox, since obesity in itself is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and mortality in the general population. Stroke research has focused on hospitalized stroke patients with weight measured at the time of the stroke. BMI is often missing in this group of patients, especially when a stroke is severe or the patients cannot report their weight. In the FHS we have data regarding weight prior to stroke, obtained during regularly scheduled research exams, with multiple data points on body weight and vascular risk factors over time. All before the stroke occurs. And have also compared survival outcomes with a group of control participants, those without stroke, to see if the so-called ‘obesity paradox’ is a non-specific finding seen in older adults or seen specifically in stroke patients. (more…)