Obesity, weight change and risks for hypertension, diabetes and hypercholesterolemia in Japanese men

Abstract

Objective: To examine the effects of the degree of body mass index and weight gain as the risks for hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and diabetes in Japanese men, and to compare that to the corresponding effects in a Caucasian population. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Cohort of all male employees at a company. Subjects: A total of 4737 male employees followed until retirement or for 4 y (longest term 4 y). Results: Increase of body mass index beyond 22 kg=m 2 related to an increased risk for hypertension even after being adjusted for possible confounding factors such as age, smoking status, alcohol intake, family history and baseline value of systolic blood pressure. The risks greatly increased in subjects with a body mass index above 27 kg=m 2 for hypertension, and 29 kg=m 2 for diabetes and hypercholesterolemia. Weight gain (more than 2 kg) was strongly related to an increased risk for hypertension and hypercholesterolemia after being adjusted for possible confounding factors. However, weight gain was not related to diabetes, and weight loss did not decrease the risks for any of the three diseases. Conclusions: Among Japanese, the degrees of body mass index associated with risks for hypertension, diabetes and hypercholesterolemia were lower than those in Caucasians. The risks for hypertension and hypercholesterolemia were strongly associated with weight gain in a Japanese male population who showed a low prevalence of severe obesity, and the risks were similar to or somewhat higher than those in a Caucasian population with a high prevalence of severe obesity.

Hospital admissions associated with body mass index in Canadian adults

“…[5][6][7] There is an increasing body of evidence for obesity epidemic from many other countries and regions as well, including Europe, 8 Latin America, 9 Australia 10 and Asian countries. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16] Obesity has already become a global health problem. Obesity and overweight contribute significantly to morbidity and mortality and account for a significant percentage of overall health-care costs.…”

Obesidade e sua relação com fatores de risco para doenças cardiovasculares em uma população nipo-brasileira

“…Um estudo de coorte realizado em 1994 com 8.823 japoneses residentes em várias cidades do Japão mostrou que o ganho de peso na idade adulta, mesmo com o indivíduo não apresentando quadro de obesidade, aumenta o risco para hipertensão e hipercolesterolemia, sendo igual ou até superior quando comparado com caucasianos (15).…”

Exercise, diet, and weight loss

“…In addition, average systolic blood pressure was higher for men (143 ± 18 mmHg versus 135 ± 17 mmHg) and for women (141 ± 17 mmHg versus 129 ± 17 mmHg) who had a greater BMI, as was total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and fasting blood glucose. Ishikawa-Takata et al 1) demonstrated that an increase in BMI beyond 22 kg/m 2 was associated with an increased risk for developing hypertension, even after data were adjusted for age, smoking status, alcohol intake, family history and baseline value of systolic blood pressure. In addition, Ishikawa-Takata et al 1) reported that the risk of hypertension significantly increased for subjects with a BMI greater than 27 kg/m 2 ; and increased risk of diabetes and hypercholesterolemia was observed for subjects with a BMI greater than 29 kg/m 2 .…”

“…Compared with leanness, excessive fatness (i.e., obesity) has a stronger association to various metabolic disorders such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes type 2 and cardiovascular disease 1) . Prevalence of obesity continues to increase in Japan 2) as well as in the United States (US) and the Western world 3,4) .…”