Underweight patients are more likely to be dead a month after a heart attack than those of normal weight, says a new study.
The likelihood of death was 13 per cent higher for the underweight patients 30 days after a heart attack and 26 per cent higher 17 years after the attack.
Yale University researchers used data relating to 57,574 elderly patients, who were either underweight or normal weight, and were hospitalised for acute myocardial infarction (AMI).
The study, published in PLOS Medicine, analysed short- and long-term mortality among the patients in relation to their body mass index.
Even for those without other illnesses, the underweight patients had a 21 per cent higher risk of death over 17 years than normal weight patients.
The researchers said co-existing illnesses which contribute to cachexia - weakness and wasting of the body - may contribute to the additional risk.
But they conclude that being underweight on its own is an important independent risk factor for death after AMI, even years later.
"Clinically, these findings suggest that strategies to promote weight gain in underweight patients after AMI are worthy of testing," they said.
