Fat location linked to cardiovascular risk in non-obese adults
More fat around the heart and within muscle was linked to cardiovascular events, with hazard ratios (relative-risk measures) of 1.31 and 1.38, respectively, versus lower levels.
Our read
Biomarkers- Studied:
- Cohort study of 2,410 non-obese adults without prior heart attack or stroke, median 2.6 years
- What changed:
- Death, heart attack, or stroke was more common with heart-surrounding and muscle fat (hazard ratios 1.31 and 1.38, respectively)
- The catch:
- Only adults referred for coronary CT scans were included, not a general-population sample
- Why it’s aging research:
- It bears on staying healthy in midlife and later life.
Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
The 2,603 adults in this observational study had a body mass index below 27; their median age was 60, and 54% were female. They had no diabetes, heart failure or stage 3A or worse chronic kidney disease and were not taking incretin drugs. Artificial intelligence measured fat around the heart, beneath the skin and within skeletal muscle on coronary CT scans ordered for clinical reasons.
Among 2,410 participants without a previous heart attack or stroke, 167 (6.9%) died or had a heart attack or stroke over a median 2.6 years. Higher heart-surrounding fat volume and a higher proportion of fat in muscle were associated with these events after accounting for age, sex, body mass index and cholesterol-lowering statin use. Fat beneath the skin was not associated with these events.
Why it matters
For cardiovascular disease prevention, the authors suggested that scan-based fat measurements may help identify risk beyond approaches based on obesity and diabetes.
Caveats
Other differences in participants’ health could have contributed to the associations. These conference-abstract results came from adults referred for coronary CT scans, not a general-population sample.
The paper
Yale Univ
AHA Scientific Sessions 2026 Abstract, Nov 2, 2026
Presented at AHA Scientific Sessions 2026, abstract 10897
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