US researchers have found that obesity or being overweight is linked to a life-threatening heart condition that alters muscle structure in the organ. According to research conducted by Johns Hopkins University, a form of heart failure known as heart failure with a preserved ejection fraction or HFpEF is responsible for more than half of all heart issues across the world, which leads to high hospitalization and death rates.

Scientists say HFpEF is usually caused by coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and even obstructive sleep apnea.

According to the study, published in the journal Nature Cardiovascular Research, since obesity is rising across the world it is important to understand the underlying causes of the disease.

For the study, the team obtained a small piece of muscle tissue from 25 patients who had been diagnosed with varying degrees of HFpEF caused by diabetes and obesity. The samples were compared to heart tissue from 14 organ donors whose hearts were considered normal.

The results showed that obese patients with HEpEF had notable ultrastructural abnormalities and their mitochondria were swollen, pale, and disrupted, along with fat droplets, with the sarcomeres tattered. Scientists said these were not related to whether the patient had diabetes and were less prominent in patients who were less obese.

David Kass, Professor of Medicine at the varsity’s School of Medicine said the finding raises a pertinent question "of whether reducing obesity, as is now being done with several drug therapies, will reverse these ultrastructural abnormalities, and in turn improve HFpEF outcome".

According to experts, if you have HFpEF, your left ventricle will become stiff and will not be able to relax properly, preventing it from filling with enough blood during the cardiac cycle’s diastole phase. And so, the filling occurs with higher pressure, reducing the amount of blood available to pump throughout the body during the systole phase. It causes a backup of fluid into the lungs and the body.

Doctors say once the fluid fills your lungs, less oxygen-rich blood is delivered to your organs and other tissues, leading to congestive heart failure.

To treat HFpEF, your doctor may prescribe diuretics to limit fluid buildup in your tissues, along with medicines to manage other chronic health conditions or cardiovascular risk factors you may have.

Since it is an obesity-linked condition, your doctor may also ask you to:

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