- WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Extremely
obese youngsters can have heart abnormalities that put them at serious
risk of heart attacks and chest pains, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.
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- The researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical
Center studied 343 patients at the hospital who ranged in age from 5 to
23 but had an average age of 12.
-
- The children already had changes in the heart's left
ventricle, the pumping chamber of the heart, the researchers found.
-
- "Increased thickness of the heart is a risk factor
for ischemic heart disease -- heart attack," cardiologist Dr. Tom
Kimball said in a statement.
-
- "The thicker a patient's heart, the more likely
the patient is to potentially have issues with reduced blood flow, leading
to a heart attack," he said.
-
- The heavier the children, the higher their risk, the
researchers told a meeting in San Diego of the American Society of Echocardiography.
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- http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=5558018
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