Researchers from the Hypersomnia and Respiratory Diseases Research Group at the WCRC for Personalized Medicine have shown that obesity in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) and reduced myocardial contractility is associated with a higher incidence of severe apnoea, more severe hypoxaemia, which does not correlate with body mass index and is not associated with a worse prognosis. The worst prognosis is observed in patients with normal body weight. Interestingly, obese CHF patients with mild obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome have a better prognosis than CHF patients without obesity and sleep-disordered breathing when followed up for 3-6 years from the time of diagnosis, which is consistent with the concept of the «obesity paradox» in CHF, according to which overweight patients with CHF have a 15-60 % lower risk of death from all causes than those with normal body weight or underweight.
To learn more, please read the news of the WCRC for Personalized Medicine.