OBESITY IS LINKED TO HEART DISEASE IN HUMANS, WHAT ABOUT DOGS?

摘要

Obesity, a result of imbalance between caloric intake and expenditure, has been considered as a global epidemic in humans and it has also affected pets. In 2010, the CDC reported high numbers of obesity, counting 35.7% of American adults as obese, and17% of American children.9 It is currently estimated that obesity affects 20-40% of the canine population.In humans, obesity may result in cardiac structural and functions changes, even in the absence of arterial hypertension and coronary heart disease. Although heart disease is cited as a problem related to obesity in the veterinary literature, there are only few studies that evaluate the actual cardiovascular effects of obesity in pets.Obesity has been cited as having a minor effect on blood pressure in dogs, but hypertension has been reported in 23 and 45% of obese dogs in two separate studies, and 67% of the obese dogs presented systolic blood pressure above 160mmHg (based on currentcriteria)2 in another study1. Body condition score (BCS) has been positively correlated with blood pressure in dogs, and the authors suggested that obesity should be considered as a risk factor for secondary hypertension in this specie.