Br Med J (Clin Res Ed)  1987;295:623-627 (12 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.295.6599.623

Body weight and risk of myocardial infarction and death in the adult population of eastern Finland.

J Tuomilehto, J T Salonen, B Marti, L Jalkanen, P Puska, A Nissinen, E Wolf

Body mass index (weight (kg) divided by height squared (m2] and its association with the risk of myocardial infarction and death from all causes were studied prospectively in a randomly selected population sample in eastern Finland aged 30-59 at outset in 1972. The study population consisted of 3786 men and 4120 women. The participation rate in the survey in 1972 was over 90%. All deaths and admissions to hospital in the sample were obtained from the National Death Certificate and Hospital Discharge Registers. During the seven years of follow up until 1978, 170 men and 52 women had acute myocardial infarction, and during the nine years up to 1980, 223 men and 92 women died. Independent of age, men with a body mass index of 28.5 or more had a significantly higher incidence of acute myocardial infarction. This effect was also independent of smoking but not independent of biological coronary risk factors--that is, serum cholesterol concentration and blood pressure. In the analysis stratified for smoking in men the body mass index total mortality curve was J shaped among non-smokers, whereas smoking entirely outweighed body mass index as a predictor of death. Body mass index did not contribute significantly to the risk of either acute myocardial infarction or death in women. It is concluded that a body mass index of around 29.0-31.0 or more is not only a marker for coronary risk factors but is also a predictor of acute myocardial infarction in men.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to StumbleUpon StumbleUpon   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Sans, S. (2002). Watch the belly to protect the heart. Eur Heart J 23: 687-689 [Full text]  
  • Rosengren, A., Wedel, H., Wilhelmsen, L. (1999). Body weight and weight gain during adult life in men in relation to coronary heart disease and mortality: A prospective population study. Eur Heart J 20: 269-277 [Abstract]  
  • Seidell, J. C., Verschuren, W. M. M., van Leer, E. M., Kromhout, D. (1996). Overweight, Underweight, and Mortality: A Prospective Study of 48287 Men and Women. Arch Intern Med 156: 958-963 [Abstract]  
  • Lee, I-M., Manson, J. E., Hennekens, C. H., Paffenbarger, R. S. Jr (1993). Body Weight and Mortality: A 27-Year Follow-up of Middle-aged Men. JAMA 270: 2823-2828 [Abstract]  
  • Kuhn, F. E., Rackley, C. E. (1993). Coronary Artery Disease in Women: Risk Factors, Evaluation, Treatment, and Prevention. Arch Intern Med 153: 2626-2636 [Abstract]  
  • Hallberg, H., Mattsson, B. (1991). Premature Deaths among Men in a Swedish Municipality--Social Characteristics Prior to Death. Scand J Public Health 19: 181-186 [Abstract]  
Access jobs at BMJ Careers
Whats new online at Student BMJ