MedWire News: Healthy adults who wish to reduce their risk for developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors should maintain or improve their cardiorespiratory fitness, as well as prevent fat gain, suggest study findings.
Duck-chul Lee (University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA) and colleagues investigated the independent and combined associations of changes in fitness and fatness with CVD risk factor incidence using data on 3148 healthy men and women. All participants were aged at least 18 years at baseline, and had received at least three medical examinations from 1979 through 2006.
Fitness was determined using a maximal treadmill test, while fatness was expressed by percent body fat and body mass index (BMI). Changes in fitness and fatness were assessed from the first (baseline) to the second medical examination.
Incidence of hypertension (resting systolic or diastolic blood pressure ≥140/90 mmHg), the metabolic syndrome (defined by the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III guidelines), and hypercholesterolemia (total cholesterol ≥240 mg/dL [6.22 mmol/L]) were assessed from the second through their final examination.
During a mean follow-up of 6.1 years, 752 participants developed hypertension, 426 developed the metabolic syndrome, and 597 developed hypercholesterolemia.
Participants who maintained (middle third of metabolic equivalents [METs]) or improved (upper third of METs) their fitness had a 26% and 28% lower risk for incident hypertension, 42% and 52% lower risk for developing the metabolic syndrome, and a 26% and 30% lower risk for hypercholesterolemia, respectively, compared with those who lost fitness.
Individuals who gained percent body fat (upper third) had a 27%, 71%, and 48% higher risk for incident hypertension, the metabolic syndrome, and hypercholesterolemia, respectively, compared with those who lost percent body fat. Similar results were observed for BMI, notes the team.
Every MET improvement in fitness was associated with a 7%, 22%, and 12% lower risk for developing hypertension, the metabolic syndrome, and hypercholesterolemia, respectively, while every unit increase in body fat percentage was associated with a 4%, 10%, and 5% increased risk for developing these CVD risk factors.
Of note, say Lee et al, in the joint analyses, maintaining or improving fitness appeared to attenuate, although not completely eliminate, some of the risks associated with fat gain. In addition, reducing body fat appeared to counteract some of the increased risk for developing CVD risk factors associated with fitness loss.
"Our results support that not only baseline fitness and fatness but also changes in fitness and fatness are significantly associated with incident CVD risk factors," conclude the researchers.
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