Blomstrand P, et al. - Researchers prospectively determined how overweight and obesity influence left ventricular systolic function in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus vs a control group of non-diabetic persons. They examined 384 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and 184 controls who participated in the CARDIPP and CAREFUL studies. Variations in left ventricular ejection fraction, global longitudinal strain, left ventricular mass and diastolic function expressed as E/é (the ratio between early diastolic mitral flow and annular motion velocities) were all found to be related to body mass index in univariable and multivariable regression analysis. In both patient groups, overweight and obesity were found responsible for the observed impairment of left ventricular ejection fraction and global longitudinal strain.