Difference of The Cardiac Structure and Function Depending on Obesity Level of Healthy Adults

The purpose of this study was to find out any difference and correlation between the cardiac structure and its function according to the level of obesity as evaluated by waist measurement and BMI (body mass index) in healthy adults. For research subjects, the study selected a final 519 subjects excluding 198 subjects aged 55 or over out of 717 subjects who received echocardiography through a medical checkup at J General Hospital. For the criteria for obesity, men were defined as being obese in case their waist measurement was over 90 cm, whereas women were defined as being obese in case their waist measurement was over 80 cm. Also, regarding the BMI criteria, in case a person's BMI was 30 kg/$m^2$, the subject was classified as belonging to an obese group, and in case a person's BMI was between 25 kg/$m^2$ and 30 kg/$m^2$, the subject was classified as belonging to an overweight group. Concerning the evaluation of cardiac structure and function, they were evaluated using two-dimensional, M-mode, doppler echocardiography. According to the stage of obesity in accordance with waist measurement and BMI, the cardiac structure showed both eccentric and centripetal changes, and the cardiac function was also discovered to show differences according to the stage of obesity. In addition, also in the overweight group, which is a prior stage to obesity, out of the criteria for obesity classification according to BMI, there were differences in the cardiac structure and function. Also, both the waist measurement and BMI were found to have a correlation with cardiac structure and diastolic function. Consequently, cardiac structure and function are correlated with BMI and waist measurement, which are anthropometrical variables, and obesity is assumed to induce not only structural change but also functional change of the heart.