Complications, mortality and increased liability have led doctors to think twice about taking on the risk hat comes along with treating obese patients.

Is it unethical or prudent policy?

This growing trend could have alarming consequences.

The American lifestyle is the biggest threat that our nation faces today.

Better treatments are saving and preserving lives, however, lifestyle and overall health does not account for any drop in fatalities due to cardiovascular illness.

Lives may be saved but the quality of life enjoyed on an expensive diet of pharmaceuticals comes with it’s own disadvantages.

The authors of the report, which appears online Dec. 15 in the journal Circulation, looked at seven markers of cardiovascular health: smoking, weight, exercise, diet, cholesterol, blood pressure and fasting blood sugar levels, as well as whether or not a person had a diagnosis of heart disease.

Using those criteria, 94 percent of U.S. adults — that’s almost everyone — have at least one risk factor for heart disease. For example, one-third of U.S. adults have high blood pressure while 15 percent have high cholesterol.

American’s demand for fast food and sedentary entertainment is undoing the health of men, women and children nation wide.

Americans are getting fatter.

At the rate we’re going 83 percent of American men will be overweight or obese by 2020 followed by women at 72 percent projected to be overweight or obese by then, as well.

The implications go far beyond tight pants and groaning sofas. Obesity is a big risk factor for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Imagining an America of overweight, unhealthy people gives public health officials the willies. And it should be frightening to us civilians, too.

Maintaining a healthy weight is not the only factor to consider to prevent heart attack risk.

Normal-weight patients diagnosed with a cluster of factors known as the “metabolic syndrome” could face a higher risk for heart failure than even obese patients without such factors, new research suggests.

Metabolic syndrome is characterized by a group of symptoms — increased blood pressure, higher-than-normal insulin levels, excess body fat around the waist, high triglycerides and/or abnormal cholesterol levels — that raise the risk of stroke, heart disease and diabetes.

Thin does not equal healthy.

There are a multitude of factors to consider when assessing one’s health and wellness.