Statins helping people with obesity match those of healthy weight on key metrics, study finds
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- Imperial College London researchers analyzed ~1 million adults aged 20–79 across England, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Finland and the US using 110 health surveys from 1990–2024, finding unhealthy cholesterol and blood pressure "narrowed or disappeared" between obese and normal-BMI adults over 40
- Prof Majid Ezzati (Imperial) attributed the convergence to statins and antihypertensives, prescribed more often to people with obesity, and said the findings profile the cardiovascular health of the population "likely to be prescribed" weight-loss medications now surging in popularity
- Adults under 40 with obesity still showed higher bad cholesterol and higher blood pressure than normal-BMI peers — researcher Yse d'Ailhaud de Brisis recommended early lifestyle interventions, screening and medication to prevent long-term complications in this group
- Prof Bryan Williams, chief scientific and medical officer at the British Heart Foundation, called the findings "a powerful public health success story" but warned obesity still raises risk of diabetes, kidney disease and some cancers that statins do not address
- Prof Edward Gregg (Imperial) stressed the convergence "doesn't mean that obesity does not still increase your risk of other outcomes," cautioning against reading the data as obesity becoming harmless
Why it matters: The study validates widespread statin and antihypertensive prescribing as effective at closing the obesity–cardiovascular gap in adults over 40. But the British Heart Foundation's warning that obesity still drives diabetes, kidney disease and some cancers means the millions newly prescribed weight-loss drugs face residual risk that cholesterol pills do not address.
