Risk of heart failure 'increases by 11% for every extra inch on your waistline'

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Every excess inch on your waistline could lead to an 11 percent increase in heart failure risk, a new study has warned. The research, which was carried out on more than 400,000 people over a 13-year-period, suggests the excess fat around your waistline should be more of a concern than the number on a scale.

Looking at adults who are between were between the ages of 40 and 70, the researchers found that waist circumference was one of the main risk factors for heart events.

On top of heart failure, it was also found that the risk of heart attacks and cardiac arrests increased by four percent for every centimetre on your waistline, reports the Mirror.

As a result, researchers have said that people should prioritise waist circumference over their weight and body mass index (BMI).Health experts say Brits should measure themselves annually to flag up dangerous fat around their organs.Lead researcher Dr Ayodipupo Oguntade said: “The amount of fat people carry around their trunk is more important in tracking body fatness and cardiovascular risk.“We know that visceral adipose tissue - the fat around the organs in the abdomen - is very active and contains a lot of inflammatory factors that can cause cardiovascular disease.”Two out of three Brits are either overweight or obese while heart and circulatory diseases cause a quarter of all UK deaths, claiming almost 500 lives a day.The research, being presented at the annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology in Barcelona, showed those with the biggest waistlines were 3.21 times more likely to suffer heart failure.By comparison, those in the highest quintile group for BMI had a 2.65 times greater heart failure risk than those in the lowest.Tam Fry, chairman of the