People under 40 with obesity still tend to have higher blood pressure and unhealthy cholesterol levels than those with a healthy weight.
Researchers believe this is because younger adults are much less likely to be prescribed cholesterol-lowering or blood pressure medicines, regardless of their weight.
Researchers say this improvement is likely because more people are taking medicines to lower cholesterol, such as statins, and drugs to control high blood pressure.
Three decades ago, adults with obesity generally had higher blood pressure and higher levels of “bad” cholesterol than people with a healthy BMI.
Because they are less likely to receive blood pressure or cholesterol medication, they continue to have a higher risk of future heart disease.
ETV Bharat / health
Cholesterol And Blood Pressure Medicines May Be Reducing Heart Attack Risk In Obese People Over 40
Lead author Professor Majid Ezzati from 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 that 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.”
However, younger adults are a different story. People under 40 with obesity still tend to have higher blood pressure and unhealthy cholesterol levels than those with a healthy weight. Researchers believe this is because younger adults are much less likely to be prescribed cholesterol-lowering or blood pressure medicines, regardless of their weight.
The study found that in several high-income countries, adults aged 40 and above with obesity now have blood pressure and cholesterol levels that are similar to—or in some cases even better than—people of the same age with a healthy body weight. This indicates that many older adults are benefiting from these drugs in lowering the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
People over the age of 40 who are living with obesity may now have healthier cholesterol and blood pressure levels than they did 30 years ago, according to a new study published in The Lancet and the British Medical Journal. Researchers say this improvement is likely because more people are taking medicines to lower cholesterol, such as statins, and drugs to control high blood pressure.
The team analysed health data from nearly one million people collected between 1990 and 2024 across seven high-income countries: England, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Finland. Three decades ago, adults with obesity generally had higher blood pressure and higher levels of “bad” cholesterol than people with a healthy BMI. Over time, however, this gap became much smaller in most of the countries studied, particularly among people aged 40 to 79.
The biggest improvement was seen in adults aged 60 to 79. In England and the United States, older adults with obesity sometimes had blood pressure and unhealthy cholesterol levels that were equal to or even lower than those of older adults with a healthy weight.
Lakshya Jain, a PhD student in the School of Public Health at Imperial, said: “This latest analysis suggests that the observed convergence in cholesterol and blood pressure levels between people aged over 40 with obesity and those with a normal BMI is largely due to statins and other widely accessible medications to reduce cardiovascular risk. That is a significant public health success story, and one we should not lose sight of as new weight-loss medications enter the picture.”
Obesity Still Has Other Health Risks
Researchers stress that these results do not mean obesity is no longer a health concern. Even when blood pressure and cholesterol are well controlled, obesity still raises the risk for several serious conditions, including:
Type 2 diabetes
Kidney disease
Fatty liver disease
Certain cancers
Medicines can reduce the risk of heart disease, but they can’t entirely eliminate the health risks connected to excess body weight. The study also highlights an important message for younger adults with obesity. Because they are less likely to receive blood pressure or cholesterol medication, they continue to have a higher risk of future heart disease.
Ysé d'Ailhaud de Brisis, a Research Assistant in Population Health from the School of Public Health at Imperial, said: "While good news for older adults with obesity, our results suggest that cardiovascular health risks remain higher for adults under 40 than for their counterparts with a normal BMI. Early lifestyle interventions, screening and, when appropriate, medication in this younger group should be considered to prevent long-term cardiovascular complications linked to obesity.”
The authors note that the study only included seven high-income countries, so the findings may not apply to low- and middle-income countries, where access to cholesterol- and blood pressure-lowering medicines is often more limited.
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