Getting at the Heart of Central Obesity and the Metabolic Syndrome.

Nearly 2 billion adults and 42 million children are either obese or overweight worldwide. In the United States, a staggering 36% of all adults are obese. Obesity is a major risk factor for many cardiovascular diseases, including heart failure (HF). Obesity and weight gain are associated with increases in left ventricular (LV) mass, amplification of agerelated LV stiffening, and worsening LV diastolic and systolic dysfunction—effects that are strikingly similar to what is seen in patients with the clinical syndrome of HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).