New findings in the European Heart Journal indicate that Intramuscular fat also known as hidden pocket of fat in the muscles is a more risker factor for heart disease unlike existing measure such as body mass index or waist circumference.
People with pockets of fat hidden inside their muscles are at a higher risk of dying or being hospitalised from a heart attack or heart failure, regardless of their body mass index, according to research published in the journal.
This ‘intermuscular’ fat is highly prized in beef steaks for cooking. However, little is known about this type of body fat in humans, and its impact on health. This is the first study to comprehensively investigate the effects of fatty muscles on heart disease.
The new study was led by Professor Viviany Taqueti, Director of the Cardiac Stress Laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Faculty at Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA. She said: “Obesity is now one of the biggest global threats to cardiovascular health, yet body mass index – our main metric for defining obesity and thresholds for intervention – remains a controversial and flawed marker of cardiovascular prognosis.
The research analysed muscle and different types of fat to understand how body composition can influence the small blood vessels or ‘microcirculation’ of the heart, as well as future risk of heart failure, heart attack and death.
The research which took six years, evaluated 669 people of which 70 percent were women and 46 percent were non-white people. They all had chest pain or shortness of breath but no evidence of Obstructive coronary artery disease.
Researchers recorded whether any patients died or were hospitalised for a heart attack or heart failure.
Researchers found that people with higher amounts of fat stored in their muscles were more likely to have damage to the tiny blood vessels that serve the heart (coronary microvascular dysfunction or CMD), and they were more likely to go on to die or be hospitalised for heart disease.
For every 1% increase in fatty muscle fraction, there was a 2% increase in the risk of CMD and a 7% increased risk of future serious heart disease, regardless of other known risk factors and body mass index.
