Key Summary
- The Imperial College study also found that obese people under 40 had higher blood pressure and cholesterol levels than those with a normal BMI.
- Researchers had analysed data on blood pressure and cholesterol in people with obesity, overweight, and normal BMI from 110 health datasets from seven high-income countries.
- The researchers note that the finding may not be applicable for low- and middle-income countries.
A new study by Imperial College London has found that obese adults over 40, and taking cholesterol-lowering medications (such as statins) and blood pressure medication, had blood pressure and cholesterol levels increasingly similar to those of adults with a normal body mass index (BMI).
The researchers said that while the trend has reduced the cardiovascular risks, the other risks associated with obesity remain. They include diabetes, kidney and liver diseases, and cancers.
The study, published in The Lancet, also found that obese people under 40 had higher blood pressure and unhealthy cholesterol levels than those with a normal BMI.
The researchers believe this is likely because younger adults rarely receive cholesterol or blood pressure medication regardless of their BMI.
The lead author of the study, Professor Majid Ezzati, from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, said: “Our study suggests that, in high-income countries, taking medication to lower blood pressure and cholesterol has helped middle-age and older adults with obesity lower their cardiovascular risk to levels that are similar to people with normal BMI.
“At a time when weight-loss medications are becoming more widely used, our results give a picture of the cardiovascular health of people likely to be prescribed them, which allows the healthcare system to understand how blood pressure and cholesterol treatments benefit the population alongside weight-loss medications.”
Researchers had analysed data on blood pressure and cholesterol in people with obesity, overweight, and normal BMI from 110 health datasets including almost one million participants from 1990 to 2024 in seven high-income countries: England, US, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Finland.
They found that in the 1990s adults with obesity had higher blood pressure and high-density lipoprotein (non-HDL) cholesterol levels than people with a normal BMI.
Since 1990, in most of the countries studied (except Taiwan and Thailand), blood pressure and unhealthy cholesterol fell more steeply among middle-aged and older adults (40–79 years old) with obesity and overweight than among those with normal BMI.
The findings were most striking in older adults (60–79 years old) with obesity.
In England and the US, this section had similar or even lower blood pressure and unhealthy cholesterol levels than older adults with normal BMI.
The researchers note some limitations of the study, including that their analysis was limited to seven countries which were all high-income, therefore the finding may not be applicable for low- and middle-income countries where the use of unhealthy cholesterol and blood pressure lowering medicines is likely to be lower.
It was also not possible to look at the impact of different medication doses, which require data on prescriptions.
The study was funded by the UK Medical Research Council and UK Research and Innovation.
