Heart Health Guides New Obesity Guidelines

Obesity now has a unique Brazilian guideline, specifically focused on its treatment as a way to prevent cardiovascular diseases. The chronic disease is considered one of the main determinants of heart and metabolism problems, according to the health entities responsible for the document. The guideline, released last Friday, was jointly developed by five medical societies — including Abeso (Brazilian Association for the Study of Obesity) and SBC (Brazilian Society of Cardiology). Lead author José Francisco Kerr Saraiva, scientific advisor of SOCESP (Society of Cardiology of the State of São Paulo), explains that the idea was to create ‘a document that speaks to the general practitioner, family doctor, geriatrician, gynecologist, and not only to the endocrinologist and cardiologist.’ The document proposes that all adults with overweight or obesity have their cardiovascular risk assessed in a standardized manner.