Do you have high blood pressure? If you are overweight, modest weight loss can bring your blood pressure to normal.
Italian researchers reported that the news in Tucson at the 61st Annual Conference of the American Heart Association of the Board for High Pressure Research.
The University of Roberto Fogari, MD and colleagues asked 220 men and women with overweight (but not obese) with hypertension of stage 1 to lose at least 5% of their body weight in 6 months.
People with stage 1 hypertension have arterial pressure ranging from 140-159 to systolic blood pressure (the first number in a blood pressure reading) and 90-99 for diastolic blood pressure (the second number under blood pressure reading).
Normal blood pressure is systolic blood pressure less than 120 and diastolic blood pressure less than 80.
The Fogari team gave patients dietary counseling patients. Some of the patients also have the Xenical weight loss drug.
For 6 months, 59% of women and 53% of men in the study found the spill weight loss goal of at least 5% their body weight.
800 Calories A Day Weight Loss Results - Modest Weight Loss Cuts Hypertension
a little more than half (52%) of those who met the weight loss goal also got blood pressure in the normal range, ICOGI tells WebMD.
The bottom line: it did not take much weight loss to contain high blood pressure.
Approximately one-third of US adults have high blood pressure and many of them do not know, according to American Heart Association. Do not know your blood pressure? A simple test can tell you where you are.
