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People who gain excess weight from their 20s onwards have less healthy hearts by the time they are in their 60s, according to research published in the European Heart Journal today (Wednesday). Scientists found links between weight gain in young and middle-aged adults and enlarged hearts that pump blood less well. This is over and above the effect of being overweight in later years.

The findings are based on a major study that has monitored the health of all the babies born in England, Scotland and Wales during one week in 1946. The study was led by Alun Hughes, Professor of Cardiovascular Physiology and Pharmacology at UCL in London, UK. He said: "We know that being overweight is associated with poorer heart health, but we know little about the long-term relationship between being overweight over the adult life course and subsequent heart health.



We wanted to look at whether being overweight at earlier stages of adult life showed lasting associations with poorer heart health irrespective of people's weight in later life." Researchers examined data on 1690 people who are part of the British Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development Birth Cohort. Throughout their adult lives, these people had their body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio measured.

They were also given echocardiograms where ultrasound is used to investigate the structure and function of the heart. Researchers were particularly interested in a measurement called the left ventricular.

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