The mass roll-out of heart and blood pressure medication has meant obese middle-aged adults have a similar heart attack risk to people who are slim and healthy, a study has found. Around a quarter of adults in the UK are obese, which is known to increase blood pressure and cholesterol levels, impact cardiovascular health and increase the risk of heart attack, heart failure, and stroke.But thanks to the wide prescribing of heart drugs, such as statins, researchers found blood pressure and cholesterol levels in over 40s with obesity was often similar if not better than people of a healthy weight. Researchers at Imperial College London suggested this was a “significant public health success story” that “we should not lose sight of as new weight-loss medications enter the picture.” Professor Majid Ezzati, from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, said: “In high-income countries, taking medication to lower blood pressure and cholesterol has helped middle-age and older adults lower their cardiovascular risk to levels that are similar to people with normal BMI.”“At a time when weight-loss medications are becoming more widely used, our results give a picture of the cardiovascular health of people likely to be prescribed them, which allows the healthcare system to understand how blood pressure and cholesterol treatments benefit the population alongside weight-loss medications,” he added. Researchers found blood pressure and cholesterol levels in over 40s with obesity was often similar if not better than people of a healthy weight (Getty Images/iStockphoto)For the study, published in The Lancet, researchers looked at one million people between 1990 and 2024 across seven wealthy countries including England and the US. Since 1990, high blood pressure and unhealthy cholesterol has fallen more steeply among middle-aged and older adults with obesity than among those of a healthy weight. By the end of the study period obese adults had “similar or even lower” blood pressure and unhealthy cholesterol levels than those with a healthy BMI. Researchers say statins have been narrowing the gap over time. Statins is a cholesterol lowering drug taken by about 8 million people in the UK and in the late 1990s it was widely rolled out on the NHS. Over the past three decades, more people with obesity have been prescribed cholesterol-lowering medication. In England and the US around 70 per cent of older men with obesity were taking cholesterol-lowering medication by the early 2020s, compared with 40 per cent of older men with a normal BMI.Scientists said by prescribing obese older adults with statins it has lowered levels of “bad” low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in the over 60s who are obese “below that of those with a normal BMI”.But obese adults under 40 still had higher levels of bad cholesterol and high blood pressure, which could be because they are less likely to be prescribed statins. Study authors suggested the NHS should consider screening younger obese adults for high blood pressure and cholesterol to prevent long-term heart issues. Ysé d'Ailhaud de Brisis, from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London said: "While good news for older adults with obesity, our results suggest that cardiovascular health risks remain higher for adults under 40 than for their counterparts with a normal BMI. “Early lifestyle interventions, screening and, when appropriate, medication in this younger group should be considered to prevent long-term cardiovascular complications linked to obesity.”