(Circulation. 2002;105:e9071.)
© 2002 American Heart Association, Inc.
Cardiovascular News
Circulation Newswriter
Weight Loss Decreases C-Reactive Protein Levels
The value of weight loss has been touted for decades, and nothing is more important than the effect it has on lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease. Now, in an article this week’s Circulation (Circulation. 2002;105:564–569), André Tchernof, PhD, and colleagues from the University of Vermont in Burlington describe a study in which they found that obese women who had high levels of circulating C-reactive protein saw those levels decrease when they lost a substantial amount of weight.
In a sample of 61 obese, menopausal women with an average body mass index of 35.6 kg/m2, levels of C-reactive protein circulating in the serum were positively associated with measures of total body fat and intra-abdominal body fat. Of the 61 women, 25 completed a weight loss protocol, with an average weight loss of 14.5 kg, of which 10.4 kg were fat and 2.8 kg were fat-free mass. Both visceral and subcutaneous fat were reduced. In these women, plasma C-reactive protein levels were reduced on average by 32.3%.
The authors concluded, "Weight loss may represent an important intervention to reduce CRP [C-reactive protein] levels, which may mediate part of its [ie, weight loss] cardioprotective effects in obese postmenopausal women."
Chelation Therapy Loses Again
Chelation therapy, a widely touted but unproved treatment for ischemic heart disease, again failed to prove its value in a study in the January 23/30, 2002, issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association. (JAMA. 2002;287:481–486). The trial was carried out by the Program to Assess