Weight Loss Fluctuations in Men
Weight Loss Fluctuations Study Background
Weight loss and weight fluctuations have been associated with increased
risks of death from cardiovascular disease and from all causes.
Weight Loss Fluctuations Study Methods
The long-term relation of weight change and weight fluctuation with mortality
over a 6-year period in 6537 middle-aged Japanese American men enrolled
in the Honolulu Heart Program, a prospective study was examined (mean
follow-up, 14.5 years).
Weight Loss Fluctuations Study Results
Men who had a weight loss of 4.5 kg or more or who had large fluctuations
in weight (or both) over a six-year period were, on average, in poorer
health than their peers whose weight was more stable. After the exclusion
of subjects who died during the first five years of follow-up and after
adjustment for confounding factors, a weight loss of more than 4.5 kg
was associated with the risk of death from all causes, with the exception
of death from cancer. The subjects whose weight fluctuated the most had
a significantly higher risk of death from cardiovascular causes, death
from noncardiovascular and noncancerous causes and death from all causes.
However, the associations of weight loss and variation in weight with
death from cardiovascular causes and from noncardiovascular and noncancerous
causes were not found among healthy men who had never smoked.
Weight Loss Fluctuations Study Conclusion
The associations between weight loss or weight fluctuation and mortality
were partially explained by confounding factors and by the presence of
preexisting disease. However, weight loss and weight fluctuation were
unrelated to death among healthy men who had never smoked. Thus, concern
about the health hazards of weight loss and variation may not be applicable
to otherwise healthy people.
Source: New England Journal of Medicine
1998
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