Correlation between initial blood pressure and blood pressure decrease after weight loss: A study in patients with...

Blood pressure (BP) was followed simultaneously with body weight in 134 morbidly obese patients randomized to either jejunoileal bypass (101 patients) or dietary treatment (33 patients). After a median observation time of 24 months (range 12-48 months) body weight fell significantly from a median of 124.0 kg to 81.2 kg in the jejunoileal bypass patients whilst median BP decreased significantly from 140/85 mmHg to 120/80 mmHg. In the patients treated with diet, body weight decreased significantly from a median of 129.0 kg to 119.0 kg after a median observation time of 18 months (range 9-36 months) whereas the median BP of 140/90 mmHg was unaffected. The fall in BP after weight loss was significantly positively correlated with the height of BP before the weight loss. The correlation could not be explained by a greater weight loss in the patients with initially high BP. Furthermore, a significantly positive correlation between BP changes and body weight changes was demonstrated, but this correlation was lesser than the above-mentioned. The study shows that the beneficial effect of a weight loss upon BP in obese patients is greater the higher the initial BP is, but also that a normal BP is only little affected and explained mainly by cuff artifact.