The Influence of Obesity and Metabolic Health on Vascular Health

• Published in: Endocrinology and metabolism (Seoul) Vol. 37; no. 1; pp. 1 - 8
• Main Author: Rhee, Eun-Jung
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) Korean Endocrine Society 01.02.2022; 대한내분비학회
• Subjects: atherosclerosis; cardiovascular diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases - epidemiology; Cardiovascular Diseases - etiology; diabetes mellitus; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Humans; Metabolic Syndrome - epidemiology; metabolism; Namgok Lecture 2021; obesity; Obesity - complications; Obesity - epidemiology; Risk Factors; vascular calcification; 내과학; Vascular calcification; Obesity; Cardiovascular diseases; Metabolism; Diabetes mellitus; Atherosclerosis
• ISSN: 2093-596X; 2093-5978
• DOI: 10.3803/EnM.2022.101

The prevalence of obesity is rapidly increasing worldwide. Obesity should not be understood only as the accumulation of fat in the body, but instead as a phenomenon that exerts different effects on our health according to the place of fat deposition and its stability. Obesity is the starting point of most metabolic diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, sleep apnea, and eventually cardiovascular disease. There are different kinds of obesity, ranging from simple obesity to sarcopenic obesity. The main purpose of intervening to address obesity is to decrease the ultimate consequence of obesity-namely, cardiovascular disease. The main mechanism through which obesity, especially abdominal obesity, increases cardiovascular risk is the obesity-induced derangement of metabolic health, leading to the development of metabolic diseases such as diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and metabolic syndrome, which are the main initiators of vascular damage. In this review, I discuss the influence of various types of obesity on the risk of metabolic diseases, and how these diseases increase cardiovascular disease risk.