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.