Is the Obesity Paradox a Valid Concept for Stroke?

For some chronic diseases, including stroke, studies have suggested that overweight or obese patients have a survival advantage over normal weight or underweight patients. This concept is referred to as the obesity paradox because it is at odds with conventional thinking, since obesity is strongly associated with multiple deleterious health conditions, such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and sleep apnea. To test whether the obesity paradox in stroke is caused by patient selection bias, investigators assessed stroke patient data entered in the Danish Stroke Register, covering the years 2003 through 2011, and identified those with an index stroke followed by death within 1 month (identified through the Danish Registry of Causes of Death)…