Weight Loss Method and Cardiac Health Examined

Study finds improvements observed whether weight loss occurred by diet or surgery

15 aug 2009-- Obese people with no known cardiovascular risk factors who lose a considerable amount of weight have significant improvements in cardiac health, according to a study in the Aug. 18 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Oliver J. Rider, of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, and colleagues performed cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in 37 obese and 20 normal weight subjects without known cardiovascular risk factors. Among the obese, imaging was performed again a year later in 30 subjects who achieved significant weight loss (17 by diet and 13 by bariatric surgery) and seven subjects who remained obese.

The researchers found that the obese had significant increases in left and right ventricular mass, left ventricular diastolic function impairment, and reduced aortic distensibility. All of these improved after weight loss to similar extents regardless of method, while no improvements were observed in subjects who remained obese.

"Irrespective of method, one year of weight loss leads to partial regression of cardiac hypertrophy and to reversal of both diastolic dysfunction and aortic distensibility impairment," Rider and colleagues conclude. "These findings provide a potential mechanism for the reduction in mortality seen with weight loss."

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