Fatty Muscles Raise Heart Disease Risk Regardless Of BMI, Says Study

New Delhi: 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 on Monday.

The new study, published in the European Heart Journal, adds evidence that existing measures, such as body mass index (BMI) or waist circumference, are not adequate to evaluate the risk of heart disease accurately for all people.

The study showed 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). They were also more likely to die or be hospitalised for heart disease.

People who had high levels of intermuscular fat and evidence of CMD were at an especially high risk of death, heart attack, and heart failure. "Knowing that intermuscular fat raises the risk of heart disease gives us another way to identify people who are at high risk, regardless of their body mass index.

These findings could be particularly important for understanding the heart health effects of fat and muscle-modifying incretin-based therapies, including the new class of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists,” said Professor Viviany Taqueti, Director of the Cardiac Stress Laboratory at Brigham and Women's Hospital, US.

The study analysed muscle and different types of fat in 669 people to understand how body composition can influence the small blood vessels or 'microcirculation' of the heart, as well as the future risk of heart failure, heart attack, and death.