Risk of cardiovascular disease after hospital-diagnosed overweight or obesity.

Obesity is linked to metabolic abnormalities that predispose individuals to an increased risk of subtypes of CVD. In this population-based nationwide 40-year cohort study, we found that of 195,221 patients with an overweight/obesity diagnosis, more than 31,000 (15.9%) were admitted to hospital within 10 years because of CVD; corresponding to a 2.5-fold greater relative risk of any CVD associated with overweight/obesity than in the general population. We observed an increased risk for most CVD subtypes, including ischemic heart disease, heart failure, structural heart disease, arrhythmia, stroke, and cardiovascular death, although the strength of the association decreased in recent years. Our study emphasizes the importance of improved clinical handling of obesity and underscores the need to prevent associated complications to alleviate the burden of obesity.