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Bone or pulmonary blood clots, known as venous thromboembolism (VTE), are one of our most common cardiovascular diseases. The risk increases with increasing age and a total of 5-10 percent of the population is affected during their lifetime. The disease is life threatening, but the severity varies.
The current study includes data on 1,639,838 men who met for military service in Sweden during the years 1969-2005. The average design age was just over 18 years. The individuals were followed up through patient and cause of death records.
During the follow-up period, with a mean value of 28 years, bone or lung blood clots were recorded in just over 1 percent, 18,665 of the study participants. There was a clear link between body mass index (BMI) during the pattern and the subsequent risk of blood clots.
Increased risk of blood clots.
The incremental risk of VTE was already remarkable in the group that was in the middle and upper parts of the normal range (BMI 20-25) compared to those in the lower part of the normal range (18.5-20).
The risk then continued to increase in the two groups with the highest BMI, obesity, and severe obesity, where a total of just over 36,000 of the study participants were included.
For the obese group (BMI 30-35), the factor risk was 2.93 compared to the reference group in the study. Therefore, the risk was more than double. For those with severe obesity (BMI 35 and above), the corresponding factor was 4.95, an almost five-fold increased risk of blood clots in the bone or lung during the follow-up period.
Important study of obesity in young people.
Katarina Glise Sandblad is a doctoral student at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, an ST physician in internal medicine at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital and the first author of the study.
– The link between VTE and obesity has been studied mainly in populations where BMI is measured later in life. Since study participants may have had the opportunity to develop obesity-related diseases that also affect the risk of blood clots, such as some forms of cancer, they are at risk of underestimating the risk of obesity. As obesity and severe obesity increase among young people, it becomes increasingly important to study the long-term risks that this entails, he notes.
Although the current study only covers men, the patterns and relationships are likely similar for women, says the research group, led by Annika Rosengren, a professor of medicine at the University of Gothenburg.
The group has previously conducted studies on obesity and other outcomes other than VTE, such as heart attack, stroke, heart failure, and heart muscle disease, where similar patterns have been observed in both men and women.
Scientific article:
Obesity in adolescent men increases the risk of venous thromboembolism in adulthood.. Internal Medicine Journal
Contact:
Katarina Glise Sandblad, PhD student at the Sahlgrenska Academy of the University of Gothenburg, ST doctor in internal medicine at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital, [email protected]
