Relationships between body weight change and cardiovascular disease risk factors in male former athletes

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the cardiovascular disease risk factor pro®le in former athletes according to their weight-change patterns during the postcompetitive period. DESIGN: Cohort study with a retrospective assessment of baseline weight of male former top-level athletes. SUBJECTS: One-hundred and ®fty top-level athletes aged 35 ± 60 y were divided into four groups according to the weightchange patterns during the postcompetitive period (weight loss, constant weight, weight gain over 3.0 kg and weight gain over 10.0 kg). MEASUREMENTS: Anthropometric measurements (height, weight, BMI, percentage fat, skinfolds, waist-to-hip-ratio (WHR), resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP), serum lipids and lipoproteins (CHOL, HDL-C, LDL-C, TG), and physical working capacity. A questionnaire was drawn up to evaluate current and previous physical activity, lifestyle indices and to record weight at the age of 20 (according to sports diaries). RESULTS: Weight gain over 10.0 kg in former athletes was closely associated with higher body mass index, percentage body fat, skinfold thickness, WHR, SBP, DBP, LDL-C and TG values, as well as lower HDL-C, HDL-CaCHOL ratio and physical working capacity values. After adjustment for confounders, the weight gainers over 10.0 kg revealed a higher risk of hypertension (OR 6.65; 95% CI 2.99 ± 11.65), abdominal fat distribution pattern (OR 10.51; 95% CI 6.11 ± 16.24), elevated LDL-C (OR 1.88; 95% CI 1.15 ± 3.06) and hypertriglyceridemia (OR 3.52; 95% CI 1.12 ± 8.56) compared with those whose weight was constant. Weight loss and weight gain less than 10.0 kg were signi®cantly related to increased risk for abdominal fat distribution pattern. CONCLUSION:The results of the present study showed that weight gain during the postcompetitive period was associated with a higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors in male former athletes.

Atherogenic inflammatory and oxidative stress markers in relation to overweight values in male former athletes

“…11 On the other hand, overweight status and obesity were found to be significant contributors in the OxS and inflammation-based CVD risk profile among the former athletes. 11,18 However, it is not clear through which important atherogenic markers overweight can express increased CVD risk level in those who are physically active and have presumably high cardiorespiratory fitness. In the present study, ex-athletes were characterized by relatively high sports activity participation rate and this may improve the CVD risk profile independently of overweight status.…”

“…18 The inclusion criteria for former athletes (n ¼ 60) were their previous participation in endurance sports events and sports games at the international or national level at least 15 years ago. The control group (n ¼ 54) consisted of age-matched male subjects of the ex-athletes who were currently physically inactive and had no competitive sports history.…”

“…16 Most epidemiological studies examining the effects of vigorous physical activity on health have been based on samples drawn from the general population. Over 60% of ex-athletes continue to lead a physically active lifestyle throughout their lives 17,18 and this increases the statistical power in detecting associations between OxS and inflammatory background, long-lasting regular sports activity, and overweight charateristics. Thus, there is not enough data about the long-term regular exercise in relation to overweight indices and novel cardiovascular risk factors (OxS and inflammatory markers).…”

Associations of short-term weight changes and weight cycling with incidence of essential hypertension in the EPIC-Potsdam Study

“…In US nurses, long-term weight loss after age 18 was found to appreciably reduce the subsequent risk for hypertension. 5 Among male former athletes, Pihl and Jü rimäe 25 found that long-term weight loss (at least 15 years) was significantly associated with lower risk of hypertension. This is contradictory to the effect for short-term weight loss among the obese we found in the present study.…”

Long-term body weight variability is associated with elevated C-reactive protein independent of current body mass index among Japanese men

“…23 This might explain the observed associations between current BMI and CRP. Some studies 24 have reported that those who gained weight increased their waist-to-hip circumference ratio or abdominal fat mass and those who reduced weight decreased them. In vitro, human abdominal visceral adipose tissue releases more IL-6 compared to subcutaneous adipose tissue, 25 possibly explaining why the weight gain or loss (weight-slope) was independently associated with elevated CRP level after adjustment for current BMI and several confounders.…”