The Link Between Atrial Fibrillation and Obesity

The World Health Organization estimates that cases of obesity have tripled since 1975 with 39% of overweight adults and 13% of obese adults in 2016. Obesity is an independent risk factor of AF and those in spite of other associated comorbidity (sleep apnea, arterial hypertension, physical inactivity, diabetes mellitus ...) [1-4] The increase in the body mass index (BMI) is associated with an increase in the incidence of AF. Conversely, the standardization of BMI is associated with a decrease in the incidence of AF. [2] It is estimated that one in five of AF may be due to being overweight or obesity [5].