Weight Loss at Any Age Improves Cardiovascular Health

Weight loss at any age in adulthood has significant long-term benefits for the heart and vascular system. Furthermore, even if the weight is gained back, the benefits still remain.

Previous studies have found that the longer a person maintains body fat (adiposity) during adulthood, the higher the likelihood of cardiovascular problems—including carotid intima media thickness (cIMT), which can predict heart disease and stroke, as well as raised systolic blood pressure, and diabetes risk.
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In this study, researchers followed 1273 British men and women to assess the impact of life-long weight change patterns on cardiovascular risk factors.

Individuals were categorized as normal weight, overweight, or obese at ages 36, 43, 53, and from 60 to 64. Childhood overweight was also determined.

Investigators used cardiovascular phenotyping—patterns of BMI change were used to determine adiposity—with cIMT (ages 60-64) to define the impact of lifetime exposure body fat yields on cardiovascular risks.

Conclusively, the study showed that overweight and obesity exhibited higher cIMT (0.029 mm) and systolic blood pressure (7.95 mm Hg) than the normal weight classification.  Exposure to adult adiposity showed an increase in systolic blood pressure, diabetes affluence, leptin, reduced adiponectin, and cIMT (p<0.0001). Investigators noted only a minute effect on childhood overweight during this process.

Moreover, research identified that participants who dropped a BMI category in adulthood sustained lower leptin concentrations (-0.4 ng/mL), and lower cIMT (-0.34 mm). Even when the change in BMI was not maintained, the results remained lower than those of participants who never lost weight, according to the study’s researchers. 

“Our study is unique because it followed individuals for such a long time, more than 60 years, and allowed us to assess the effect of modest, real-life changes in adiposity, said lead author John Deanfield, MB, BChir, from University College London.

“Our findings suggest that losing weight at any age can result in long-term cardiovascular health benefits, and support public health strategies and lifestyle modifications that help individuals who are overweight or obese to lose weight at all ages.”

The complete study is published in the May issue of The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

-Michelle Canales

References:

Charakida M, Khan T, Johnson W, et al. Lifelong patterns of BMI and cardiovascular phenotype in individuals aged 60—64 years in the 1946 British birth cohort study: an epidemiological study. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2014 May 21 [epub ahead of print] doi:10.1016/S2213-8587(14)70103-2

The Lancet. Adults who lose weight at any age could enjoy improved cardiovascular health [press release]. 2014 May 19. www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=141965&CultureCode=en. Accessed May 28, 2014.