Relationship of body weight to acute myocardial infarction: A study of 450 autopsied patients with acute myocardial infarction

Abstract

Data pertaining to the relationship between body weight and acute myocardial infarction, based on a study of 450 patients with acute myocardial infarction, have been presented and discussed. Weights of patients who had myocardial infarction and on whom autopsies were performed were compared with the “ideal” weight range in the most recent standard tables of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. The average age of such patients whose weights exceeded the “ideal” range is similar to that of those who did not exceed the “ideal.” The suggestion is that weight does not materially affect the prognosis or the time of onset of acute myocardial infarction. Weights of persons who had died of acute myocardial infarction were compared with those of persons of similar age who had died of diseases that seem unlikely to be related to body weight (neurosurgical patients). The indication is that overweight (as determined by comparison with standard tables for “ideal” weight) is exceedingly common in both groups, but it is no more common in one than in the other. Weights of both groups (myocardial infarction and neurosurgical) were compared with the average weights of a cross section of the general population of similar age (the latter obtained from old charts prepared by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company). The average weights of these two autopsy groups were similar to the average weights of the general population of similar age. A comparison of the distribution of the weights in the myocardial infarction group with the distribution of the weights of a sample of 74,000 working men and women (prepared by Master) also fails to show a significant difference. Previous investigators have studied a large number of individuals under 40 years of age in the Armed Forces who had died of coronary arteriosclerosis. They have concluded that obesity was not an important factor in the development of coronary arteriosclerosis in this young group. A reasonable conclusion from our data dealing with older individuals is that overweight was not an important factor in the development of acute myocardial infarction in these older individuals. However, confirmation from other sources is necessary before definitive conclusions can be drawn.