Cai Z, Wu W, Chen Z, et al. - The results demonstrated that in hypertensive patients with weight gain, higher BMI variability was correlated with an elevated risk of cerebrovascular diseases (CVD), but not in those with weight loss, independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors.

• Between 2006 and 2011, researchers recruited a total of 20,737 patients with hypertension and three BMI measurements.

• In this study, 1,352 cases of CVD were found during an average follow-up of 6.62 years.

• As per the results, 7.53, 6.13, and 1.56% were the 7-year cumulative incidence rates of CVD, stroke, and myocardial infarction (MI) in tertile 3.

• The hazard ratio (HR) values for CVD, stroke and MI in the highest tertile were 1.21 (95% CI 1.05–1.39), 1.21 (95% CI 1.04–1.38), and 1.20 (95% CI 0.88–1.62), respectively, after adjustment for average BMI, weight change slope, and other traditional risk factors.

• In the subgroup analysis, results exhibited that the HR values for CVD in tertile 3 were 1.71 (95% CI 1.06–2.75) and 0.98 (95% CI 0.61–1.58) in the positive and the negative weight change subjects, respectively.