Obesity-Induced Hypertension: New Insights

Abstract

Background: New insights on the relationship between weight loss and hypertension and the role of the newly approved anti-obesity drugs on hypertension will be discussed Methods: Weight loss is a major factor to reduce blood pressure when a patient with excess weight is advised from the health care provider to change his lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle with reduction in body weight, reduction in caloric intake, increased fruit and vegetables consumption and reduced salt intake concomitant with an increase in physical exercise can reduce body weight and hypertension in overweight and obese patients, but not all obese are able to reduce their blood pressure and lose weight without treatment and special dietary care. Moreover, most obese people lose weight for a small period and then they regain all the weight that they have lost or even worse, they increase their weight more than before starting a diet. Newly-approved weight loss drugs have variable actions on high blood pressure. Liraglutide and phentermine/topiramate seem to reduce hypertension, while after the bupropion/naltrexone or lorcaserin use trials reported a rise in blood pressure.

Conclusion: Reduction in body weight with treatment is not always associated with reduction in obesity induced hypertension. Weight loss treatments that exhibit sympathomimetic or adrenergic actions should be used with care and for short periods of time.

Keywords: Obesity; anti-obesity drugs; bupropion/naltrexone; hypertension; liraglutide; lorcaserin; obesity-induced hypertension; phentermine / topiramate.