Birth weight made Elvis prime candidate for heart problems

By ANGELA GREGORY

Elvis Presley loved his fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches so much he could scoff up to 15 at a time.

But being a tiny baby had put him at risk of the heart failure that caused his sudden death at just 42 years, well before he developed a hearty appetite for fatty foods.

In a paper prepared for New Zealand and Australian cardiologists, British researcher Professor George Davey-Smith said the King of Rock'n'Roll had been a prime candidate for heart problems since he was in the womb.

Professor Davey-Smith, the head of the epidemiology division at Bristol University, said Elvis had a very low birthweight, which recent research indicated increased the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Professor Davey-Smith said it was also known that people who had low birthweight, low childhood weight, and then became obese in later life were at a substantially greater risk again.

Born in Mississippi, Elvis was one of identical twin boys but only he survived birth.

Raised as a God-fearing, non-drinking, non-smoking young man, he went on to revolutionise American popular music and make a fortune which financed a lavish lifestyle.

But in later years his fluctuating weight and ill-health at times reduced the former heart-throb to a grotesque figure.

He died in 1977 after being found unconscious in a bathroom at his mansion, Graceland.

An autopsy showed he died of cardiac arrhythmia - a severely irregular heart beat.

The New Zealand Heart Foundation says big eaters cannot rely on a healthy birthweight to protect them from heart problems.

Overweight people have a greater chance of dying early, developing high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease.

The foundation recommends a balanced diet and preparing meals with little or no added fat, salt and sugar.

nzherald.co.nz/health