Associations of weight loss and changes in fat distribution with the remission of hypertension in a bi-ethnic cohort: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study.
BACKGROUND
To examine associations of weight loss and changes in fat distribution with changes in blood pressure and the remission of hypertension in a community-based sample.


METHODS
Participants were 3245 white and African-American men and women, 45-64 years of age, who participated in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study over an average of 9 years. Mixed models analyses were used to examine the associations of weight loss and changes in fat distribution with changes in blood pressure. Proportional hazard models with time-dependent covariates were used to examine the associations of weight loss and changes in fat distribution with the remission of hypertension.


RESULTS
Weight loss was associated with a decrease in systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure and with an increased rate of remission of hypertension. Hazard ratios of the remission of hypertension associated with 1-kg increment in annual weight loss were 2.04 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.62-2.59), 1.38 (95% CI: 1.14-1.67), 1.84 (95% CI: 1.47-2.29), and 1.53 (95% CI: 1.14-2.05) for white women, African-American women, white men, and African-American men, respectively. Changes in fat distribution were associated with the remission of hypertension in younger (45-54 years) participants.


CONCLUSIONS
Weight loss was associated with a decrease in blood pressure and with remission of hypertension in white and African-American men and women.
Juhaeri
Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, CB# 7400 McGavran-Greenberg Hall, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, 27599-740, USA. juhaeri@email.unc.edu
Stevens
June
J
Chambless
L E
LE
Nieto
F J
FJ
Jones
Daniel
D
Schreiner
Pamela
P
Arnett
Donna
D
Cai
Jianwen
J
D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017677:Age Distribution; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011322:Primary Prevention / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D015431:Weight Loss; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*