If you’re starting drug therapy to control high blood pressure or high cholesterol, don’t let that be an excuse to forgo heart-healthy behaviors. Exercising, maintaining a healthy weight, and not smoking are among the key lifestyle modifications recommended for prevention of cardiovascular disease, regardless of whether medication is prescribed. But a Finnish study in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that these healthy habits often fall by the wayside when people go on statins or antihypertensive drugs.
Of more than 41,000 middle-aged people who were initially free of cardiovascular disease, those who started taking these medications between 2000 and 2013 were more likely to reduce their physical activity and gain weight than those who were not prescribed the drugs during this time period. In fact, the initiation of drug therapy was associated with a near-doubling in the risk of obesity, compared to not initiating therapy. A step in the right direction: Among the smokers in the study population, those who started drug therapy were more likely to reduce or quit smoking.
