Statins helping people with obesity match those of healthy weight on key metrics, study finds

In some cases, people with obesity were ‘better off’ than those of a healthy weight, the researchers said. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/ View image in fullscreen In some cases, people with obesity were ‘better off’ than those of a healthy weight, the researchers said. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/ Statins helping people with obesity match those of healthy weight on key metrics, study finds Differences in unhealthy cholesterol levels and blood pressure found to have ‘narrowed or disappeared’ in over-40s Many adults living with obesity have “indistinguishable” cholesterol and blood pressure levels compared with those who are a healthy weight, largely because of the use of statins, according to a study. In some cases, people with obesity were “better off” than those of a healthy weight, researchers added. In the past, adults with obesity were more likely to have increased blood pressure and higher levels of unhealthy cholesterol, but the study has found that differences in unhealthy cholesterol levels and blood pressure have “narrowed or disappeared” among those aged 40 and over. Experts say the finding is largely due to use of cholesterol-busting medications, such as statins, and drugs to lower blood pressure – both of which are more commonly used among people with obesity. They said the findings were important to “give a picture of the cardiovascular health” of people likely to be prescribed weight-loss medications, which have rapidly increased in popularity. They said that it was important not to “lose sight” of the findings as an increasing number of people use weight-loss medications. They looked at data on blood pressure, cholesterol levels and BMI scores taken from 110 health surveys conducted between 1990 and 2024. They also examined information on the use of cholesterol-busting drugs and blood pressure treatment – known as antihypertensives. The team found that unhealthy cholesterol levels and blood pressure “declined over time”, especially among those aged 40 and over. The declines were larger among people with obesity, “leading to a convergence of these risk factors between obesity and normal BMI in people older than 40 years”. “As a result of these trends, in England, the US, Thailand, South Korea, and Japan, older people with obesity often became indistinguishable from, or better off than, those with normal BMI in terms of non-HDL cholesterol and SBP (systolic blood pressure),” they wrote. They added: “We found that differences in non-HDL cholesterol and SBP between those with obesity and those with a normal BMI narrowed or disappeared, especially in older adults, in some cases making those with and without obesity indistinguishable in terms of these cardiometabolic traits.” One of the research team, Prof Edward Gregg from Imperial College London, stressed that “it doesn’t mean that obesity does not still increase your risk of other outcomes”.