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Letting Healthy Habits Slip Bad For The Heart! For heart disease prevention, heart-healthy lifestyle habits are always important, whether for healthy people or for those who already have risk factors like hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes, high cholesterol. But according to a new research published Feb 5, 2020 in the Journal of the American Heart Association (AHA), many patients let these healthy habits slip after starting the prescription medications that help them lower the risk factors. The findings indicated that those who are at risk for heart disease and stroke and took cholesterol or blood pressure lowering medications were more likely to reduce their activity levels and gain weight. Researchers studied 41,225 participants of the FPS (Finnish Public Sector) who aged 40 and above and were free of cardiovascular disease at baseline. They responded to more than 2 consecutive surveys administered in 4-year intervals between 2000 and 2013. The surveys included a baseline and follow up questionnaire to assess BMI (body mass index), physical activity, alcohol consumption and smoking history. Pharmacy data of participants was also obtained to determine if they began taking the prescribed high blood pressure or statin medications. Medication use was categorized by those who began the preventive medications between the baseline and 4-year follow-up surveys, and those who did not start medications at all. Analysis shows that by comparing to participants who did not start medications, those who did were more likely to lower their physical activity and were 8 percent more likely to become physically inactive, and 82 percent more likely to become obese or have an increase in BMI.
But there was some good news. Those who did start
medications were 26 percent more likely to quit smoking, and reduced their
alcohol consumption, as compared to those who did not start medications. People
often gain weight when they stop smoking, but in the study, participants who
took their medications and stopped smoking gained more weight than those who did
not take medications and stopped smoking.
While the study highlights an association between medication use and lifestyle change, it cannot prove that medication initiation makes people complacent about healthy habits. Meanwhile, the findings indicate that doctors need to do more to educate their patients on the importance of keeping up with exercise and other healthy habits, whether or not they are taking medications. Some limitations were brought out by the researchers. First, there was a lack of details about the respondents’ diets, blood pressure measurements, and cholesterol levels. Second, the study participants were mostly white female in Finland, it is unsure that results can be applied to other ethnic groups and countries. Nevertheless, some recent studies in the United States and Korea has indicated that people who were prescribed with statin had shown bigger increases in calorie and fat intake, obesity and physical inactivity compared to nonusers. For instance, a study conducted by University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to compare fat and caloric intake among statin users and non-users in 1999-2000 and 2009-10. The researchers found that the caloric intake among statin users had risen by 9.6 percent over that decade and that fat consumption had jumped by 14.4 percent. In contrast, caloric and fat intake by non-statin users did not change significantly during the 10-year period. The findings were published online April 24, 2014 in the Journal ‘JAMA Internal Medicine’. Researchers believe this is due to a false sense of security that could lead to heart disease and other obesity-related illnesses.
Though medications can be effective, they do not
eliminate the need for a healthy lifestyle. Having a healthy diet and exercise,
managing alcohol consumption, quitting smoking, may help people keep their
medication doses lower, which may lower side effects. More importantly, having a
healthy diet and getting regular exercise do improve overall health in many
ways, from managing weight, to boosting fitness levels and strength, and to
lowering blood pressure and blood glucose. Date: June 18, 2020
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