Annotated Bibliography of the Relationship between Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease
Wenyang Cai
Professor Mary Palmer
New York City College of Technology
Abstract
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has become a worldwide health problem and it has begun to affect a younger populations verses the common age of fifty and above. Clinical finding also show that obesity plays a major role in developing cardiovascular disease. Whether obesity has a positive correlation with cardiovascular diseases has been studied by many researchers. Below are the annotated bibliographies that provide evidences on different aspects, including population group selections, study methods, blood test items, and environment factors that establish the association between obesity and CVD. As the disease become more and more prevalent, it is very essential for nurses to understand its relationship in order to promote healthy options for patients.
Lee, S., Chang, H., Sung, J., Kim, K. J., Shin, S., Cho, I., & … Chung, N. (2014). The impact of obesity on subclinical coronary atherosclerosis according to the risk of cardiovascular disease. Obesity (19307381), 22(7), 1762-1768 7pn of Care. American Health & Drug Benefits, 4(5), 271-277 7p.
In order to validate the correlation between obesity and CVD, how obesity increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, this group of authors conducted a study on 1,406 Korean adults, who all underwent both cardiac MSCT and abdominal scan between January 2012 and August 2013 for severance check-up and have clinical and laboratory examinations performed on the same day as the MSCT. Their burden of CVD risk was also assessed by the Framingham risk equation. The result of the study shows that in the low-risk group for CVD, obesity measurements of BMI, abnormally large waist circumference, high visceral fat area and visceral-to-subcutaneous fat ratio were associated with the presence of CVD risks. However, the associations were attenuated in the moderate-to-high risk group.
The author provides evidence of the factors that contribute to the risk of CVD in the population that was studied, this evidence includes higher systolic blood pressure, LDL cholesterol, fating blood glucose, HbA1c, BMI, waist circumference, visceral fat area, and visceral-to-subcutaneous at ratio, as well as a lower HDL cholesterol level. Most of these factors are associated with obesity. In other words, obesity has a positive relationship with CVD. However, one of the limitation of this study is that the population that was studied was restricted to Korean, it was not randomly identified. Therefore, the possibility that selection bias from a single population group cannot be excluded.
In conclusion, the authors shows that obesity affects subclinical coronary atherosclerosis differentially, according to the burden of CVD risk. In low-risk adults, the correlation is more obvious than that in adults that fall under moderate-to-high risk groups. After all, this shows obesity does have a positive correlation with CVD. As a nurse the most important tool to use is education. Educating clients about how to take actions to modify the risk factors of CVD is important especially if they currently have rick factors. In addition, we should constantly be aware of clients who are displaying risk factors and therefore taking precautionary care in order to prevent damage.
Kwagyan, J., Retta, T. M., Ketete, M., Bettencourt, C. N., Maqbool, A. R., Xu, S., & Randall, O. (2015). Obesity and Cardiovascular Diseases in a High-Risk Population: Evidence-BasedApproach to CHD Risk Reduction. Ethnicity & Disease, 25(2), 208-213 6p.
As heart disease become the leading cause of death in United States, effecting African Americans, as they have the highest CVD morbidity and mortality rate, the author examined the baseline distribution of CVD risk factors in 515 obese African Americans, with BMI’s of 42.9 ±6.8kg/m^2, and prospectively the effects of a 6-month low-salt, low-fat diet and aerobic-exercise intervention program contributed the betterment of those already diagnosed with CVD (John etal., 2015). This study aimed at giving evidence on how weight reduction can improve cardiovascular health.
Evidence of the result shows that central obesity, a marker of insulin resistance, was present in almost all of the study participants, and, with an 11% decrease in BMI, an 8% decrease in LDL, and a 10% increase in HDL. The LDL /HDL ratio decreased from 2.3 to 2.1, while the total cholesterol/ HDL ratio decreased from 4.4 to 3.4 (John et al., 2015). The result underline the importance of making and keeping new life-style changes and reducing weight will lead to disease risk reduction and cardiovascular health improvement.
From this study we can see that obesity accounts for the highest risk of CVD. Also, we can see the evidence that weight reduction life-styles, including low-salt, low-fat diet and aerobic-exercise interventions, have a great impact on CVD risk reduction. A key strategy in the practice of nursing is to recognize high risk CVD individuals and educate them on how important the emphasis of adherence to obesity reduction can give them a healthier body, this is the way CVD can be prevented effectively.
Colombi, A. M., & Wood, G. C. (2011). Obesity in the Workplace: Impact on CardiovascularDisease, Cost, and Utilization (American Psychological Assoc.)
In the workplace, it shows that the employees’ absenteeism and worker’s compensation are associated with disease related to obesity. Besides this, the rising prevalence of obesity in the workforce may have additional implications for both employers and employees. Based On this phenomenon, a study was undertaken to determine the impact of population obesity on care utilization and cost of cardiovascular conditions for hypertension, CAD, and stroke in a large US population of employees engaged in a major corporate wellness program. (Colombi & Wood,2011).
Result showed that the number of diseases attacking episodes per 1000 employees was higher in sites with the highest rates of obesity than the sites in the lower rates of obesity. In consistence, the mean allowed payment per episode required a higher amount in the individuals in the obese site than individuals in the non-obese site. These evidences shows that obesity causes higher CVD episodes as well as driving up the amount of medical treatment budget.
The facts associated with the current obesity epidemic are bad news not only for the physical health of the United States population but also for the economic health. We can see that treatment of a client with obesity who also can be associated CVD requires a larger amount of budget than clients without obesity. It is essential for nurses to help obese clients with weight reduction. This helps not only for the client’s body health but also the hospitals’ economic health.
Conclusion
The above three articles used different study method to reveal evidences on different aspects, including population, health of physical or economical, and life environment, to establish the positive correlation between obesity and CVD. All the articles sow imperial data that obesity is positively correlative to CVD, as the above three articles have given cogent evidences on different aspects to demonstrate how obesity has great impact on causing CVD. The discussion of relationship between obesity and CVD established positive association and will assist in correcting the performance of the nursing practice, hence provide clients with better care. As the government is tightening medical expense in recent years, it is also essential for nurses, together with other health care providers to work on obesity reduction hence to prevent large medical spending on CVD.
References
Colombi, A. M., & Wood, G. C. (2011). Obesity in the Workplace: Impact on Cardiovascular Disease, Cost, and Utilization (American Psychological Assoc.)
Kwagyan, J., Retta, T. M., Ketete, M., Bettencourt, C. N., Maqbool, A. R., Xu, S., & Randall, O. S. (2015). Obesity and Cardiovascular Diseases in a High-Risk Population: Evidence-Based Approach to CHD Risk Reduction. Ethnicity & Disease, 25(2), 208-213 6p.
Lee, S., Chang, H., Sung, J., Kim, K. J., Shin, S., Cho, I., & … Chung, N. (2014). The impact of obesity on subclinical coronary atherosclerosis according to the risk of cardiovascular disease. Obesity (19307381), 22(7), 1762-1768 7pn of Care. American Health & Drug Benefits, 4(5), 271-277 7p.
