Research

Mixed

In patients with incident stroke, higher BMI (overweight and obesity classes I-III) is associated with a lower risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), peripheral vascular disease, cardiovascular mortality, and all-cause mortality compared to normal BMI.

If you have had a stroke, being overweight or obese might actually be associated with a lower risk of future heart problems and death compared to being normal weight. This does not mean you should gain weight, but it suggests that aggressive weight loss immediately after stroke might not be the priority. Discuss weight management with your doctor, keeping in mind that your current weight might be protective.

GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
In multivariable analysis, higher BMI were associated with lower risk of subsequent MACE [overweight: HR 0.96, 95% CI 0.93–0.99)]; PVD [overweight: 0.65 (0.49–0.85); obesity Class III: 0.19 (0.50–0.77)]; cardiovascular-related death [overweight: 0.80 (0.74–0.86); obesity Class I: 0.79 (0.71–0.88); Class II: 0.80 (0.67–0.96)]; and all-cause mortality [overweight: 0.75 (0.71–0.79); obesity Class I: 0.75 (0.70–0.81); Class II: 0.77 (0.68–0.86)] when compared to those with normal BMI.
Ralph Kwame Akyea et al. · Journal of Cachexia Sarcopenia and Muscle · 2021

Why this rating

Large prospective population-based cohort (n=30,702) with long follow-up (median 12.9 years) and robust multivariable adjustment, but observational design limits causal inference.

Source

Obesity and long‐term outcomes after incident stroke: a prospective population‐based cohort study

Ralph Kwame Akyea et al. · Journal of Cachexia Sarcopenia and Muscle · 2021

DOI 10.1002/jcsm.12818

cohort · n=30702Cited 40×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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