Long term benefits of weight loss and less booze
November 13, 2018 7:40 AM   Subscribe

I think stats like this are compelling: "3 years after the last cigarette: The risk of heart attack and stroke approaches that of someone who has never smoked." (Link). But I can't find similar statements for things like weight loss or reducing alcohol intake. Are those kind of stats out there?

A lot of advice on smoking, weight loss, and alcohol intake is phrased as "you are raising your risk!" Okay... but quantifying how quitting/losing weight/drinking less reduces your risk sounds so much more compelling to me. I can find stats like that for smoking, but what about for weight loss and alcohol? Google has failed me so far.
posted by Tehhund to Health & Fitness (12 answers total) 12 users marked this as a favorite
 
I found some stats about being overweight here, but some of them can be turned into statements about losing weight:
  • Those who are obese have medical costs that are $1,429 more than those of normal weight on average (roughly 42% higher).
  • The annual cost of being overweight is $524 for women and $432 for men; annual costs for being obese are even higher: $4,879 for women and $2,646 for men.

posted by ubiquity at 8:10 AM on November 13, 2018


Response by poster: I should clarify, as these don't really fit the bill. I'm looking for "if you are already overweight, here's how much better things will be / lower your risk will be in 5 years / 10 year / etc if you lose the weight." Similarly, "if you currently drink too much, here's how much lower your risk of issues will be if you cut back."
posted by Tehhund at 8:19 AM on November 13, 2018 [1 favorite]


There is a growing body of evidence that correlates alcohol consumption with increased risk for some cancers. The National Cancer Institute has some stats.
posted by ryanshepard at 8:20 AM on November 13, 2018


I found some stats about being overweight here, but some of them can be turned into statements about losing weight

I think one of the problems you may be having in finding stats is that, unlike those of smoking, the inherent health risks of being overweight or obese are actually relatively poorly understood, due largely to the difficulty of disentangling those effects from those of confounding factors. I am not one of those militants who says that there are no health risks to extra weight, but the science is a mess. You don't, for instance, need to think for more than about two seconds before the problems with the stats quoted here become apparent.

(I do hope you are planning to use such numbers for your own edification or motivation rather than to lecture others.)
posted by praemunire at 8:23 AM on November 13, 2018 [23 favorites]


More data on alcohol that does not directly answer your question, but might be helpful. Presumably, the long-term benefits are greatest for those who stop at an early age. E.g., a lifelong alcohol abuser who stops at 80 would see less improvement than a college-age binge drinker who stopped rather than continued binging for decades.

Here's a NYT summary of a recent large alcohol study, and below an excerpt from the press release for the study. Note that although past studies found health benefits from light drinking, this one found that no drinking is safest, although the difference between no drinking and light drinking is (in my interpretation) for all practical purposes zero.

"..comparing no drinks with one drink a day the risk of developing one of the 23 alcohol-related health problems was 0.5% higher - meaning 914 in 100,000 15-95 year olds would develop a condition in one year if they did not drink, but 918 people in 100,000 who drank one alcoholic drink a day would develop an alcohol-related health problem in a year.

This increased to 7% in people who drank two drinks a day (for one year, 977 people in 100,000 who drank two alcoholic drinks a day would develop an alcohol-related health problem) and 37% in people who drank five drinks every day (for one year, 1252 people in 100,000 who drank five alcoholic drinks a day would develop an alcohol-related health problem)."
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 8:25 AM on November 13, 2018 [1 favorite]


This was on the BBC the other day and it made it easy for me to say no to some M&Ms.

Turns out the things that cause heart disease may also lead to dementia. So decreasing your consumption of sugar may lower your risk for becoming the sort of person who sends in the two easy payments of $19.95 to get a TrumpyBear. That's highly inspirational. Plus in the article there is a gorgeous picture of food that's delicious and good for you--usually thinking about what TO do works better for me than obsessing about what NOT to do.

I can't find it, but I have definitely seen one of those "here's what happens two weeks after you quit, two years after you quit, 20 years after you quit" for alcohol. I remember that your risk of oral cancer plummets. I'll keep hunting, but meanwhile here's a rah-rah inspirational thing I found for a harmreduction approach to booze.
posted by Don Pepino at 8:25 AM on November 13, 2018 [1 favorite]


I just found some listicles that mention research on associations with weight loss using the phrase “what happens to your body when you lose weight”, which may be a starting point (as in you can chase down the studies).

(So far, mentioned research has shown: reduction in sleep apnea and snoring if relevant, reduction in allergy symptoms if relevant [less strain on adrenal glands and respiratory system], increase in general energy [again less mechanical strain on body] and both libido and sexual satisfaction [improved efficiency of testosterone and the whole hormonal system], ease of mobility [anecdotally, a friend with a central fat distribution found not only general getting and walking around much easier, but also things like bending over to tie his shoes], reduction of strain on joints, improved sense of taste, improved cognition and memory, improved fertility. I know from prior reading that obesity can even affect the immune system, so in theory it’s possible that people with immune-related conditions may see improved symptoms [although not necessarily].)

TLDR obesity affects many body systems, people vary in how it affects them, and have different starting and end points, so functional improvements will vary, too.
posted by cotton dress sock at 8:53 AM on November 13, 2018 [3 favorites]


Best answer: Alcohol drinking cessation and its effect on esophageal and head and neck cancers: A pooled analysis
"After more than 20 yr of alcohol cessation, the risks for both cancers were no longer significantly different from the risk of never drinkers. Our findings demonstrate an important role of alcohol cessation on esophageal and head and neck carcinogenesis."

How the risk of liver cancer changes after alcohol cessation: A review and meta-analysis of the current literature
"Too few studies have addressed this question and of the studies that have, all have significant limitations. The key issue amongst the relevant studies is that it appears that current drinkers, abstainers and former drinkers are not composed of, or effectively adjusted to be, similar populations making inferences about risk changes impossible."
posted by Don Pepino at 9:04 AM on November 13, 2018 [3 favorites]


Mod note: I edited the link because it was borking askme in some browsers.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 10:59 AM on November 13, 2018 [1 favorite]


that's because there are so very few people who actually go from being fat to not-fat long term, certainly not in the context of long term studies. All the doctors who say "you'll be healthier if you lose weight" are actually only saying "you'd be healthier if you'd never been a fat person, according the data I have about not-fat people."
posted by fingersandtoes at 10:59 AM on November 13, 2018 [19 favorites]


Bariatric surgery does typically result in substantial weight loss, and the available evidence suggests it results in a large reduction in mortality rates. Of course, patients who have this surgery are very obese, so this is not relevant for most people.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 11:22 AM on November 13, 2018 [4 favorites]


Best answer: Here is a meta-analysis of randomized trials that suggest a "15% reduction in all cause mortality" for obese people who intentionally lose weight.
posted by Pantalaimon at 12:38 PM on November 13, 2018 [3 favorites]


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