[WebMD]
More than 20 million Americans have Type 2 diabetes; most are overweight or obese. (Photo courtesy Atlanta Black Star)
WEDNESDAY, April 30, 2014 (HealthDay News) — Can someone be obese and healthy? A new study and several experts say no.
An obese person who has normal blood pressure, normal cholesterol and normal blood sugar levels is still at risk for heart disease, Korean researchers report in the April 30 online edition of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
In the study of more than 14,000 men and women, aged 30 to 59, those who were obese had more plaque buildup in their arteries, putting them at greater risk for heart disease and stroke than people of normal weight, the researchers found.
“People have been trying to work out whether there is a group of people that are obese and healthy,” said Dr. Rishi Puri, medical director of the atherosclerosis imaging core laboratory at the Cleveland Clinic and author of an accompanying journal editorial.