Research

Hormonal

Obesity causes structural and functional cardiac alterations, including left ventricular hypertrophy, diastolic dysfunction, and atrial fibrillation, primarily through increased blood volume, cardiac output, and neuro-hormonal activation (RAAS).

Excess body weight forces your heart to work harder by increasing blood volume and output, leading to thickening of the heart muscle (LVH) and stiffening of the heart chambers. This structural change happens even if you feel no symptoms and increases the risk of heart failure and arrhythmias like atrial fibrillation.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Obesity increases blood volume, stroke volume, and cardiac output, which results in an increase in cardiac work. These alterations also lead to LV dilatation and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH)... obesity leads to enlargement of the left atrium... which increases the risk of HF.
Jorge Gutiérrez‐Cuevas et al. · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · 2021

Why this rating

Supported by multiple citations and established pathophysiological descriptions in the review.

Source

Pathophysiological Molecular Mechanisms of Obesity: A Link between MAFLD and NASH with Cardiovascular Diseases

Jorge Gutiérrez‐Cuevas et al. · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · 2021

DOI 10.3390/ijms222111629

narrative_reviewCited 201×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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