Do you have slightly borderline blood pressure or already suffer from high blood pressure? The first measure mentioned by your doctor will often be to return to a healthy weight. But is it enough?
Why can your weight cause high blood pressure?
Although not all obese or overweight people suffer from hypertension, we now know that several pathophysiological mechanisms induced by excess weight contribute to this disorder.
- Excess fat can increase vascular resistance and increase the work of the heart to pump blood. Additional pressure, which leads to an increase in blood pressure;
- Fat cell tissues also secrete many hormones and disrupt the renal system. The kidney must then maintain a higher blood pressure to excrete the daily dose of salt;
- When there is excess visceral fat, the fat stored around the abdomen can also lead to abnormal compression of the kidneys and cause kidney damage to progress. However, poor kidney function also plays a role in triggering hypertension linked to obesity.
Losing weight can be a good initiative
For all these reasons, and when excess weight is caused by bad habits such as excessive sedentary lifestyle, losing weight can indeed help you regain acceptable blood pressure.
“Losing weight can help reduce blood pressure, but it depends on several factors. A moderate weight loss (5-10% of body weight) can lead to a significant drop in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, especially in overweight or obese people. A decrease in BMI of 1 kg/m² can reduce blood pressure by almost 1.8 mmHg!” specifies Dr Gérald Kierzek, medical director of True Medical
In some cases this is not enough
However, even if a loss of fat mass is always a good thing for living in good overall health, it does not guarantee a reduction in hypertension.
“This improvement is not guaranteed for everyone, especially if the hypertension is of genetic origin” reveals our expert.
These are people whose hypertension is of family origin, in whom the disease occurs at a relatively young age, often before the age of 50. But also people in whom hypertension appears after the age of 60, but who gained weight well before the age of 50.
“In these cases, losing weight improves overall health but does not always normalize blood pressure. Medical monitoring is essential to adapt treatments and goals”emphasizes Dr. Kierzek.
Taking antihypertensive medications is then recommended.