Cardiovascular Consequences of Obesity in Young Adults: A Physiological and Clinical Review​

Abstract

Obesity during early adulthood triggers a complex interplay of autonomic, endothelial, inflammatory, and neurohormonal alterations that collectively heighten cardiovascular risk well before the onset of overt clinical disease. These physiological disruptions lead to increased arterial pressure, vascular stiffening, and modifications in myocardial repolarization, thereby predisposing individuals to subclinical cardiovascular dysfunction (Csige et al., 2018; Powell-Wiley et al., 2021). Evidence indicates that young adults with excess adiposity often exhibit measurable early markers of cardiovascular compromise, including reduced heart rate variability, prolonged corrected QT (QTc) intervals, impaired flow-mediated dilation, and increased carotid intima–media thickness each serving as a sensitive indicator of early vascular and autonomic impairment (Banerjee et al., 2022; Kumar et al., 2004; Patel et al., 2022; Shah et al., 2015).