Poor diet harms blood vessels

(Image: Pixabay CC0) - Over the last few decades, the number of obesity sufferers has continued to increase and is now one of the leading causes of death worldwide - 650 million adults are classified as obese. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines obesity as the accumulation of excess fat in the body, which poses risks to healthy living. The main causes: changing eating habits and lifestyles. But how do poor eating habits affect our blood vessels? A team of researchers led by Bilal Sheikh from the Helmholtz Institute for Metabolic, Obesity and Vascular Research (HI-MAG) at Helmholtz Munich and the Medical Faculty of the University of Leipzig has investigated how obesity affects the molecular structure of blood vessels. The research team found that metabolic diseases affect blood vessels in different organs of our body in unique ways: for example, blood vessels in the liver and adipose tissue have difficulty processing excess fats, kidney vessels develop metabolic dysfunction, lung vessels become highly inflamed, and transport in brain vessels is impaired. -Because blood vessel dysfunction drives all major pathologies-from heart failure to atherosclerosis to neurodegeneration-our research shows how poor eating habits promote the development of various diseases at the molecular level,- explains Olga Bondereva, the lead author of this study. -We want to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of obesity in order to be able to offer patients tailored therapies in the future," adds HI-MAG Director Matthias Blüher.