Weight Loss & CHD Risk Factors
Weight Loss Study Background
The claim that weight loss improves coronary heart disease (CHD) risk
factors in postmenopausal women is not substantiated by much data; nor
is it known if there are racial differences in changes of body fat distribution,
lipids, glucose tolerance, and blood pressure with weight loss. This weight
loss study determined the efficacy of a lifestyle weight loss intervention
in reducing total and abdominal obesity and improving CHD risk factors
in obese Caucasian and African-American postmenopausal women.
Weight Loss Study Method
Body composition (dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry), abdominal fat areas,
lipoprotein lipids, insulin, glucose tolerance, and blood pressure were
measured before and after 6 months of hypocaloric diet and low-intensity
walking in 76 overweight or obese (body mass index > 25 kg/m2), Caucasian
(72%) or African-American (28%), postmenopausal (age = 60 ± 5 years)
women who completed the study.
Weight Loss Study Results
Absolute amount of body weight lost was similar in Caucasians (-5.4 ±
3.6 kg) and African Americans (-3.9 ± 3.6 kg), but Caucasian women
lost relatively more fat mass. Both groups decreased their subcutaneous
abdominal fat, and Caucasian women decreased their visceral fat area,
but there were no racial differences in the magnitude of abdominal fat
lost. The intervention decreased triglycerides and increased high-density
lipoprotein and high-density lipoprotein 2 cholesterol in both races,
and it decreased total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in Caucasian
women. Fasting glucose and glucose area during the oral glucose tolerance
test decreased in Caucasian women, whereas insulin area decreased in both
Caucasian and African-American women. Blood pressure decreased the most
in women with higher blood pressures at baseline. Changes in lipids, fasting
glucose and insulin, their responses during the oral glucose tolerance
test, and blood pressure were not different between racial groups.
Weight Loss Study Conclusion
Weight loss achieved through a lifestyle intervention of energy restriction
and increased physical activity is an equally effective therapy in African-American
and Caucasian obese, postmenopausal women for improving glucose and lipid
CHD risk factors.
Sources: Baltimore VA Medical Center, Baltimore,
Maryland. 2003
The Gerontological Society of America
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