on PinterestA new study found that a “beer belly” may be linked to harmful changes in the heart structure, especially in men.
on PinterestA new study found that a “beer belly” may be linked to harmful changes in the heart structure, especially in men. Image Credit: master1305/Getty Images
- A new study found that abdominal fat, or a “beer belly,” may be linked to harmful changes in heart structure, particularly in males.
- The researchers say that a high waist-to-hip ratio may be associated with more concerning cardiac remodeling than BMI scores alone.
- The study utilized advanced cardiac MRI imaging to identify subtle changes in heart tissue that wouldn’t otherwise be visible.
Abdominal obesity, often referred to as a “beer belly,” is an accumulation of visceral fat that is stored around the internal organs.
Visceral fat is a type of fat stored within the abdominal cavity that can accumulate in the arteries, contributing to the development of cardiovascular disease.
A new study found that abdominal obesity is not only linked to harmful changes in heart structure, but that these effects were more apparent among males.
The researchers used advanced cardiac MRIs to detect beer belly-associated heart changes that could signal early heart stress before the onset of cardiovascular disease or symptoms. The study, however, did not examine beer consumption among the subjects.
The findings were recently presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), held from November 29 to December 3, in Chicago, IL. The study has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
“Abdominal obesity, a high waist-to-hip ratio, is associated with more concerning cardiac remodeling patterns than high body mass index (BMI) alone,” lead study author Jennifer Erley, MD, a radiologist resident at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany, said in a press release.
Abdominal obesity and cardiac remodeling
For the study, researchers examined MRI scans of 2,244 adults ages 46 to 78.
The study found that obesity, as measured by BMI scores, was more strongly associated with enlarged heart chambers across all participants, regardless of sex.
Abdominal obesity, or “beer belly,” was more associated with a thickening of the heart muscle and smaller heart chambers.
These abdominal obesity-related changes were more prominent in males, particularly in the right ventricle. The right ventricle pumps blood to the lungs.
The researchers suggested their findings may reflect early cardiac stress related to how abdominal fat affects breathing and lung pressure.
“It appears to lead to a potentially pathological form of cardiac remodeling, concentric hypertrophy, where the heart muscle thickens, but the overall size of the heart doesn’t increase, leading to smaller cardiac volumes,” Erley said in the press release.
“In fact, the inner chambers become smaller, so the heart holds and pumps less blood. This pattern impairs the heart’s ability to relax properly, which eventually can lead to heart failure,” she continued.
The researchers suggest that the more extensive heart damage seen in males may be an earlier onset of more severe abdominal obesity, but more research is needed ot confirm this theory.
Mir Ali, MD, medical director at MemorialCare Weight Loss Center in Fountain Valley, CA, who was not involved in the study,
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