Obesity and Atrial Fibrillation: A Narrative Review

Overview

Journal Cureus

Specialty Biomedical Engineering

Date 2022 Dec 12

PMID 36505155

Authors

Vasu Gupta

Jaskaran S Munjal

Poonamdeep Jhajj

Shinedeep Jhajj

Rohit Jain

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Obesity and atrial fibrillation in the elderly population both present as significant health issues worldwide indirectly. Cases of atrial fibrillation are also rising worldwide, making it the most common type of cardiac arrhythmia. There are a variety of risk factors for atrial fibrillation. Modifiable factors include smoking, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, sedentary lifestyle, obesity, and non-modifiable include genetic predisposition. Obesity is a well-known risk factor for multiple systemic conditions like metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus type 2, sleep-related disorders, etc. In addition, it contributes directly to the development of various cardiovascular disorders like hypertension, myocardial infarction, and, more notably, atrial fibrillation. There are multiple mechanisms by which obesity in adults increases the risk of atrial fibrillation. Some of them are systemic inflammation caused by the increased secretion of cytokines by adipocytes, neuro-hormonal disturbances and heart structure remodeling, and weight-loss strategies have shown improvements in patients suffering from atrial fibrillation.

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