Impacts of a national strategy to reduce population salt intake in England: serial cross sectional study

Background

The UK introduced an ambitious national strategy to reduce population levels of salt intake in 2003. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of this strategy on salt intake in England, including potential effects on health inequalities.

Methods

Secondary analysis of data from the Health Survey for England. Our main outcome measure was trends in estimated daily salt intake from 2003–2007, as measured by spot urine. Secondary outcome measures were knowledge of government guidance and voluntary use of salt in food preparation over this time period.

Results

There were significant reductions in salt intake between 2003 and 2007 (−0.175grams per day per year, p<0.001). Intake decreased uniformly across all other groups but remained significantly higher in younger persons, men, ethnic minorities and lower social class groups and those without hypertension in 2007. Awareness of government guidance on salt use was lowest in those groups with the highest intake (semi-skilled manual v professional; 64.9% v 71.0% AOR 0.76 95% CI 0.58–0.99). Self reported use of salt added at the table reduced significantly during the study period (56.5% to 40.2% p<0.001). Respondents from ethnic minority groups remained significantly more likely to add salt during cooking (white 42.8%, black 74.1%, south Asian 88.3%) and those from lower social class groups (unskilled manual 46.6%, professional 35.2%) were more likely to add salt at the table.

Conclusions

The introduction a national salt reduction strategy was associated with uniform but modest reductions in salt intake in England, although it is not clear precisely which aspects of the strategy contributed to this. Knowledge of government guidance was lower and voluntary salt use and total salt intake was higher among occupational and ethnic groups at greatest risk of cardiovascular disease.     

Consuming More of Daily Caloric Intake at Dinner Predisposes to Obesity. A 6-Year Population-Based Prospective Cohort Study

Background/Objectives

It has been hypothesized that assuming most of the caloric intake later in the day leads to metabolic disadvantages, but few studies are available on this topic. Aim of our study was to prospectively examine whether eating more of the daily caloric intake at dinner leads to an increased risk of obesity, hyperglycemia, metabolic syndrome, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Subjects/Methods

1245 non-obese, non-diabetic middle-aged adults from a population-based cohort underwent a 3-day food record questionnaire at enrollment. Anthropometric values, blood pressure, blood metabolic variables, and estimated liver fat were measured at baseline and at 6-year follow-up.

Design

Prospective cohort study.

Results

Subjects were divided according to tertiles of percent daily caloric intake at dinner. A significant increase in the incidence rate of obesity (from 4.7 to 11.4%), metabolic syndrome (from 11.1 to 16.1%), and estimated NAFLD (from 16.5 to 23.8%) was observed from the lower to higher tertile. In a multiple logistic regression model adjusted for multiple covariates, subjects in the highest tertile showed an increased risk of developing obesity (OR = 2.33; 95% CI 1.17–4.65; p = 0.02), metabolic syndrome (OR = 1.52; 95% CI 1.01–2.30; p = 0.04), and NAFLD (OR = 1.56; 95% CI 1.10–2.22; p = 0.01).

Conclusions

Consuming more of the daily energy intake at dinner is associated with an increased risk of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and NAFLD.     

Prevalence of psychological distress in elderly hypertension patients in primary care

Background

Recent guidelines on cardiovascular disease prevention advocate the importance of psychological risk factors, as they contribute to the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. However, most previous research on psychological distress and cardiovascular factors has focused on selected populations with cardiovascular disease.

Aim

The primary aim was to determine the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and Type D personality in elderly primary care patients with hypertension. Secondary aim was to examine the relation between elevated systolic blood pressure and depression, anxiety, and Type D personality.

Design and Setting

A cross-sectional study in primary care practices located in the south of the Netherlands.

Method

Primary care hypertension patients (N = 605), between 60 and 85 years (45 % men, mean age = 70 ± 6.6), were recruited for this study. All patients underwent a structured interview including validated self-report questionnaires to assess depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), and Type D personality (DS14) as well as blood pressure assessment.

Results and Conclusion

Depression was prevalent in 5 %, anxiety in 5 %, and Type D personality in 8 %. None of the distress measures were associated with elevated systolic blood pressure of >160 mmHg (all p-values >0.05). This study showed no relation between psychological distress and elevated systolic blood pressure in elderly primary care patients with hypertension.     

Calcium Intake and Serum Concentration in Relation to Risk of Cardiovascular Death in NHANES III

Background

Evidence for an association between calcium intake and risk of cardiovascular death remains controversial. By assessing dietary intake, use of supplements, and serum levels of calcium, we aimed to disentangle this link in the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III).

Methods

Mortality linkage of NHANES III to death certificate data for those aged 17 years or older (n = 20,024) was used to estimate risk of overall cardiovascular death as well as death from ischemic heart disease (IHD), acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure (HF), and cerebrovascular disease (CD) with multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis.

Results

About 10.0% of the population died of cardiovascular disease and the majority (5.4%) died of IHD. There was increased risk of overall CVD death for those in the bottom 5% of serum calcium compared to those in the mid 90% (HR: 1.51 (95% CI: 1.03–2.22)). For women there was a statistically significant increased risk of IHD death for those with serum calcium levels in the top 5% compared to those in the mid 90% (HR: 1.72 (95%CI: 1.13–2.61)), whereas in men, low serum calcium was related to increased IHD mortality (HR: 2.32 (95% CI 1.14–3.01), P_interaction: 0.306). No clear association with CVD death was observed for dietary or supplemental calcium intake.

Conclusions

Calcium as assessed by serum concentrations is involved in cardiovascular health, though differential effects by sex may exist. No clear evidence was found for an association between dietary or supplementary intake of calcium and cardiovascular death.     

Reported High Salt Intake Is Associated with Increased Prevalence of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm and Larger Aortic Diameter in Older Men

Background

Salt intake has been implicated in the pathogenesis of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) through studies in rodent models but not previously studied in humans. The aim of this study was to examine the association between reported addition of salt to food and the prevalence of AAA.

Methods

A risk factor questionnaire which contained a question about salt intake was included as part of a population screening study for AAA in 11742 older men. AAA presence was assessed by abdominal ultrasound imaging using a reproducible protocol.

Results

The prevalence of AAA was 6.9, 8.5 and 8.6% in men who reported adding salt to food never, sometimes and always, respectively, p = 0.005. Addition of salt to food sometimes (odds ratio [OR]: 1.22, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.03–1.44) or always (OR: 1.23, 95% CI 1.04–1.47) was independently associated with AAA after adjustment for other risk factors including age, waist-hip ratio, blood pressure, history of hypertension, high cholesterol, angina, diabetes, myocardial infarction and stroke. Salt intake was also independently associated with aortic diameter (beta 0.023, p = 0.012). In men with no prior history of hypertension, high cholesterol, angina, myocardial infarction or stroke (n = 4185), the association between addition of salt to food sometimes (OR: 1.41, 95% CI 0.96–2.08) or always (OR: 1.52, 95% CI 1.04–2.22) and AAA remained evident.

Conclusion

Reported salt intake is associated with AAA in older men. Additional studies are needed to determine whether reducing salt intake would protect against AAA.     

Confounding by Indication Probably Distorts the Relationship between Steroid Use and Cardiovascular Disease in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Results from a Prospective Cohort Study

Objective

To evaluate the risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis exposed to glucocorticoids.

Methods

Retrospective analysis of exposure to glucocorticoids in a prospective cohort of 353 patients with rheumatoid arthritis followed from June 2001 up to November 2011 for incident cardiovascular disease in a hospital-based outpatient cohort in the Netherlands. Hazard ratios with 95%-confidence intervals were calculated for the association between different types of exposure to glucocorticoids and incident cardiovascular disease. Associations were adjusted for demographics, cardiovascular risk factors and disease related parameters.

Results

Recent and current exposure to glucocorticoids were associated with incident cardiovascular disease, as was a longer duration of exposure and cumulative exposure to glucocorticoids. Adjustment for disease activity and severity negated the association.

Conclusion

In observational studies the finding of incident cardiovascular disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis exposed to glucocorticoids is strongly confounded by indication due to high disease activity. The adverse cardiovascular effects of glucocorticoids might be balanced by positive effects working through inflammation control.     

Urinary Sodium Excretion and Dietary Sources of Sodium Intake in Chinese Postmenopausal Women with Prehypertension

Background

Reducing salt intake in communities is one of the most effective and affordable public health strategies to prevent hypertension, stroke and renal disease. The present study aimed to determine the sodium intake in Hong Kong Chinese postmenopausal women and identify the major food sources contributing to sodium intake and urine excretion.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional study among 655 Chinese postmenopausal women with prehypertension who were screened for a randomized controlled trial. Data collection included 24 h urine collection for the measurement of sodium, potassium and creatinine, 3-day dietary records, anthropometric measures and questionnaire survey on demographic data and dietary habits.

Results

The average salt intake estimated from urinary excretion was 7.8±3.2 g/d with 82.1% women above WHO recommendation of 5 g/day. Food groups as soup (21.6%), rice and noodles (13.5%), baked cereals (12.3%), salted/preserved foods (10.8%), Chinese dim sum (10.2%) and sea foods (10.1%) were the major contributors of non-discretionary salt. Discretionary salt use in cooking made a modest contribution to overall intake. Vegetable and fruit intake, age, sodium intake from salted foods, sea foods and soup were the independent determinants of urinary sodium excretion.

Conclusions

Our data revealed a significant room for reduction of the sodium intake. Efforts to reduce sodium from diets in Hong Kong Chinese postmenopausal women should focus on both processed foods and discretionary salt during cooking. Sodium reduction in soup and increase in fruit intake would be potentially effective strategy for reducing sodium.     

Renal function is related to severity of coronary artery calcification in elderly persons: the Rotterdam study

Background

Coronary artery calcification (CAC) has been proposed to be the underlying mechanism of the increased risk of coronary heart disease with reductions in glomerular filtration rate (GFR). Since renal function diminishes with aging we examined the association between GFR and CAC in the Rotterdam Study, a population-based study of elderly individuals.

Methods

The study was performed in 1703 subjects without a history of coronary heart disease. GFR was estimated using the modification of diet in renal disease equation. We used analysis of covariance to test for mean differences in CAC between GFR tertiles.

Results

The mean CAC scores in the middle and lowest GFR tertile did not significantly differ from the mean CAC score in the highest GFR tertile (geometric mean CAC score 4.1 and 4.3 vs 4.2). In a multivariable model the mean CAC score did also not differ between the GFR tertiles. As the interaction term between age and GFR was significant (P = 0.037), we divided the population in two age categories based on median age of 70 years. Below 70 years, the mean CAC scores did not differ between the GFR tertiles. Above median age, mean CAC score in the lowest GFR tertile was significantly higher than the mean CAC score in the highest tertile in a multivariable model (CAC 4.9 vs 4.5, p = 0.010).

Conclusion

In this population-based study we observed that the association between CAC and GFR is modified by age. In participants at least 70 years of age, a decrease in GFR was associated with increased CAC.     

Psychological Distress during Pregnancy in a Multi-Ethnic Community: Findings from the Born in Bradford Cohort Study

Purpose

Antenatal anxiety and depression are predictive of future mental distress, which has negative effects on children. Ethnic minority women are more likely to have a lower socio-economic status (SES) but it is unclear whether SES is an independent risk factor for mental health in pregnancy. We described the association between maternal mental distress and socio-demographic factors in a multi-ethnic cohort located in an economically deprived city in the UK.

Methods

We defined eight distinct ethno-language groups (total N = 8,454) and classified a threshold of distress as the 75th centile of within-group GHQ-28 scores, which we used as the outcome for univariate and multivariate logistic regression for each ethnic group and for the sample overall.

Results

Financial concerns were strongly and independently associated with worse mental health for six out of the eight ethnic groups, and for the cohort overall. In some groups, factors such as working status, education and family structure were associated with worse mental health, but for others these factors were of little importance.

Conclusions

The diversity between and within ethnic groups in this sample underlines the need to take into consideration individual social, migration and economic circumstances and their potential effect on mental health in ethnically diverse areas.     

Cardiovascular Disease Risk Models and Longitudinal Changes in Cognition: A Systematic Review

Background

Cardiovascular disease and its risk factors have consistently been associated with poor cognitive function and incident dementia. Whether cardiovascular disease prediction models, developed to predict an individual''s risk of future cardiovascular disease or stroke, are also informative for predicting risk of cognitive decline and dementia is not known.

Objective

The objective of this systematic review was to compare cohort studies examining the association between cardiovascular disease risk models and longitudinal changes in cognitive function or risk of incident cognitive impairment or dementia.

Materials and Methods

Medline, PsychINFO, and Embase were searched from inception to March 28, 2014. From 3,413 records initially screened, 21 were included.

Results

The association between numerous different cardiovascular disease risk models and cognitive outcomes has been tested, including Framingham and non-Framingham risk models. Five studies examined dementia as an outcome; fourteen studies examined cognitive decline or incident cognitive impairment as an outcome; and two studies examined both dementia and cognitive changes as outcomes. In all studies, higher cardiovascular disease risk scores were associated with cognitive changes or risk of dementia. Only four studies reported model prognostic performance indices, such as Area Under the Curve (AUC), for predicting incident dementia or cognitive impairment and these studies all examined non-Framingham Risk models (AUC range: 0.74 to 0.78).

Conclusions

Cardiovascular risk prediction models are associated with cognitive changes over time and risk of dementia. Such models are easily obtainable in clinical and research settings and may be useful for identifying individuals at high risk of future cognitive decline and dementia.     

High Dietary Sodium Intake Assessed by Estimated 24-h Urinary Sodium Excretion Is Associated with NAFLD and Hepatic Fibrosis

Background

Although high sodium intake is associated with obesity and hypertension, few studies have investigated the relationship between sodium intake and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We evaluated the association between sodium intake assessed by estimated 24-h urinary sodium excretion and NAFLD in healthy Koreans.

Methods

We analyzed data from 27,433 participants in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (2008–2010). The total amount of sodium excretion in 24-h urine was estimated using Tanaka’s equations from spot urine specimens. Subjects were defined as having NAFLD when they had high scores in previously validated NAFLD prediction models such as the hepatic steatosis index (HSI) and fatty liver index (FLI). BARD scores and FIB-4 were used to define advanced fibrosis in subjects with NAFLD.

Results

The participants were classified into three groups according to estimated 24-h urinary excretion tertiles. The prevalence of NAFLD as assessed by both FLI and HSI was significantly higher in the highest estimated 24-h urinary sodium excretion tertile group. Even after adjustment for confounding factors including body fat and hypertension, the association between higher estimated 24-h urinary sodium excretion and NAFLD remained significant (Odds ratios (OR) 1.39, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.26–1.55, in HSI; OR 1.75, CI 1.39–2.20, in FLI, both P < 0.001). Further, subjects with hepatic fibrosis as assessed by BARD score and FIB-4 in NAFLD patients had higher estimated 24-h urinary sodium values.

Conclusions

High sodium intake was independently associated with an increased risk of NAFLD and advanced liver fibrosis.     

Anemia and the onset of gout in a population-based cohort of adults: Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study

Introduction

There is a growing prevalence of gout in the US and worldwide. Gout is a recognized risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). It is unclear whether other risk factors for CVD are also associated with increased risk of gout. Anemia is one such CVD risk factor. No studies have evaluated the relationship between anemia and gout. We tested whether anemia was associated with incident gout independent of comorbid conditions in Atherosclerosis Risk in the Communities.

Methods

This population-based cohort recruited 15,792 individuals in 1987 to 1989 from four US communities and contained nine years of follow-up. Anemia was defined as hemoglobin <13.5 g/dL for men and <12 g/dL for women. Using a Cox Proportional Hazards model, we estimated the hazard ratio (HR) and confidence intervals (CI) of incident gout by baseline anemia, adjusted for confounders (sex, race, estimated glomerular filtration rate, body mass index and alcohol intake) and clinical factors (coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure, diabetes, hypertension, diuretic use and serum urate level).

Results

Among the 10,791 participants, 10% had anemia at baseline. There were 271 cases of incident gout. Patients with anemia had a two-fold increased risk of developing gout over nine years (HR = 2.01, 95% CI: 1.46, 2.76). Anemia was associated with incident gout independent of known gout risk factors, confounders and clinical risk factors (HR = 1.73, 95% CI: 1.24, 2.41). This association persisted after additionally adjusting for serum urate level (HR = 1.83, 95% CI: 1.30, 2.57).

Conclusion

We identified anemia as a novel risk factor for gout. Anemia was associated with an approximately two-fold increased risk of gout-independent kidney function and serum urate. These findings suggest that anemia is a risk factor for gout on par with other chronic conditions such as obesity and diabetes. The biological mechanism linking anemia to gout remains unclear.     

Waist-to-Height Ratio and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Elderly Individuals at High Cardiovascular Risk

Introduction

Several anthropometric measurements have been associated with cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes mellitus and other cardiovascular risk conditions, such as hypertension or metabolic syndrome. Waist-to-height-ratio has been proposed as a useful tool for assessing abdominal obesity, correcting other measurements for the height of the individual. We compared the ability of several anthropometric measurements to predict the presence of type-2 diabetes, hyperglycemia, hypertension, atherogenic dyslipidemia or metabolic syndrome.

Materials and Methods

In our cross-sectional analyses we included 7447 Spanish individuals at high cardiovascular risk, men aged 55–80 years and women aged 60–80 years, from the PREDIMED study. Logistic regression models were fitted to evaluate the odds ratio of presenting each cardiovascular risk factor according to various anthropometric measures. The areas under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC) were used to compare the predictive ability of these measurements.

Results

In this relatively homogeneous cohort with 48.6% of type-2 diabetic individuals, the great majority of the studied anthropometric parameters were significantly and positively associated with the cardiovascular risk factors. No association was found between BMI and body weight and diabetes mellitus. The AUCs for the waist-to-height ratio and waist circumference were significantly higher than the AUCs for BMI or weight for type-2 diabetes, hyperglycemia, atherogenic dyslipidemia and metabolic syndrome. Conversely, BMI was the strongest predictor of hypertension.

Conclusions

We concluded that measures of abdominal obesity showed higher discriminative ability for diabetes mellitus, high fasting plasma glucose, atherogenic dyslipidemia and metabolic syndrome than BMI or weight in a large cohort of elderly Mediterranean individuals at high cardiovascular risk. No significant differences were found between the predictive abilities of waist-to-height ratio and waist circumference on the metabolic disease.     

Circulating Adipocytokines and Chronic Kidney Disease

Background

Adipokines have been associated with atherosclerotic heart disease, which shares many common risk factors with chronic kidney disease (CKD), but their relationship with CKD has not been well characterized.

Methods

We investigated the association of plasma leptin, resistin and adiponectin with CKD in 201 patients with CKD and 201 controls without. CKD was defined as estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <60 mL/min/1.73 m² or presence of albuminuria. Quantile regression and logistic regression models were used to examine the association between adipokines and CKD adjusting for multiple confounding factors.

Results

Compared to controls, adjusted median leptin (38.2 vs. 17.2 ng/mL, p<0.0001) and adjusted mean resistin (16.2 vs 9.0 ng/mL, p<0.0001) were significantly higher in CKD cases. The multiple-adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of CKD comparing the highest tertile to the lower two tertiles was 2.3 (1.1, 4.9) for leptin and 12.7 (6.5, 24.6) for resistin. Median adiponectin was not significantly different in cases and controls, but the odds ratio comparing the highest tertile to the lower two tertiles was significant (1.9; 95% CI, 1.1, 3.6). In addition, higher leptin, resistin, and adiponectin were independently associated with lower eGFR and higher urinary albumin levels.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that adipocytokines are independently and significantly associated with the risk and severity of CKD. Longitudinal studies are warranted to evaluate the prospective relationship of adipocytokines to the development and progression of CKD.     

The Association between the History of Cardiovascular Diseases and Chronic Low Back Pain in South Koreans: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background

Cardiovascular disease and related risk factors have been suggested as a mechanism leading to atherosclerosis of the lumbar vessels and consequent lumbar pain or sciatica. But there is continued controversy concerning its generalization. This study examined whether cardiovascular disease or its risk factors were associated with chronic low back pain (cLBP) in Koreans.

Methods

Health surveys and examinations were conducted on a nationally representative sample (n = 23,632) of Koreans. A total of 13,841 eligible participants (aged 20 to 89 years) were examined to determine the association between cardiovascular disease, the Framingham risk score, major cardiovascular risk factors (blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, and smoking habits) and chronic LBP.

Results

The total prevalence of cLBP was 16.6% (men: 10.8%, women: 21.1%) and that in patients with a history of cardiovascular diseases was 36.6% (men: 26.5%, women: 47.1%). The results showed that patients’ medical history of cardiovascular disease was significantly associated with cLBP in both men and women when adjusted for covariates (men: OR 2.16; 95%CI 1.34∼3.49; women: OR 2.26; 95%CI 1.51∼3.38). No association was observed between cLBP and the Framingham risk score, medication for hyperlipemia, hypertension, diabetes, and major cardiovascular risk factors (systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose and smoking habits) in either men or women.

Conclusions

The prevalence of cLBP is correlated to a history of cardiovascular disease, but not to the major cardiovascular risk factors from the Framingham study. Further studies on whether these results were affected by psychological factors in patients with a history of cardiovascular diseases or whether new potential risk factors from the artery atherosclerosis hypothesis applying to Koreans exist are needed.     

Lagged Effect of Diurnal Temperature Range on Mortality in a Subtropical Megacity of China

Background

Many studies have found extreme temperature can increase the risk of mortality. However, it is not clear whether extreme diurnal temperature range (DTR) is associated with daily disease-specific mortality, and how season might modify any association.

Objectives

To better understand the acute effect of DTR on mortality and identify whether season is a modifier of the DTR effect.

Methods

The distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) was applied to assess the non-linear and delayed effects of DTR on deaths (non-accidental mortality (NAD), cardiovascular disease (CVD), respiratory disease (RD) and cerebrovascular disease (CBD)) in the full year, the cold season and the warm season.

Results

A non-linear relationship was consistently found between extreme DTR and mortality. Immediate effects of extreme low DTR on all types of mortality were stronger than those of extreme high DTR in the full year. The cumulative effects of extreme DTRs increased with the increment of lag days for all types of mortality in cold season, and they were greater for extreme high DTRs than those of extreme low DTRs. In hot season, the cumulative effects for extreme low DTRs increased with the increment of lag days, but for extreme high DTR they reached maxima at a lag of 13 days for all types of mortality except for CBD(at lag6 days), and then decreased.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that extreme DTR is an independent risk factor of daily mortality, and season is a modifier of the association of DTR with daily mortality.     

Risk of Hospitalization for Acute Cardiovascular Events among Subjects with Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms: A Nationwide Population-Based Study

Background and Purpose

Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) have been reported to be associated with metabolic syndrome and may predispose subjects to cardiovascular disease. The magnitude of the impact on the medical care remains to be elucidated. Based on a population-based claims dataset in Taiwan, we explored the association between LUTS and the risk of subsequent hospitalization for acute cardiovascular events.

Materials and Methods

Among a representative sample of one million subjects from nationwide health insurance enrollees, subjects with codes of LUTS in service claims and without previous cardiovascular diseases including stroke were compared with age- and sex-matched non-LUTS subjects in subsequent hospitalization for acute coronary syndrome or stroke from the recruited date (between 2001–2004) to 2009. The risk of outcomes was assessed with Kaplan-Meier curves and the impact of LUTS was estimated with Poison regression analysis and Cox proportional hazards models.

Results

We included 4,553 LUTS subjects and 22,765 matched non-LUTS subjects, with a mean age of 47 years and 43% of men. Hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia were more prevalent in the LUTS group. The incidence rate of the composite endpoint was significantly higher in the LUTS group than in the non-LUTS group (5.4/1000 vs. 4.0/1000 person-years). The difference mainly derived from stroke rather than acute coronary syndrome. After adjusting for age, sex, diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia in multivariable analysis, LUTS remained a significant predictor (hazard ratio, 1.29; 95% confidence incidence, 1.06–1.50).

Conclusion

Subjects free of cardiovascular disease and presenting with LUTS are at risk of subsequent hospitalization for acute cardiovascular events, mainly stroke. The information might prompt practitioners encountering such patients to undergo appropriate diagnostic and preventive measures.     

Homocysteine, grey matter and cognitive function in adults with cardiovascular disease

Background

Elevated total plasma homocysteine (tHcy) has been associated with cognitive impairment, vascular disease and brain atrophy.

Methods

We investigated 150 volunteers to determine if the association between high tHcy and cerebral grey matter volume and cognitive function is independent of cardiovascular disease.

Results

Participants with high tHcy (≥15 µmol/L) showed a widespread relative loss of grey matter compared with people with normal tHcy, although differences between the groups were minimal once the analyses were adjusted for age, gender, diabetes, hypertension, smoking and prevalent cardiovascular disease. Individuals with high tHcy had worse cognitive scores across a range of domains and less total grey matter volume, although these differences were not significant in the adjusted models.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that the association between high tHcy and loss of cerebral grey matter volume and decline in cognitive function is largely explained by increasing age and cardiovascular diseases and indicate that the relationship is not causal.     

Sex differences in risk factors for cardiovascular disease: the PERU MIGRANT study

Introduction

Although men and women have similar risk factors for cardiovascular disease, many social behaviors in developing countries differ by sex. Rural-to-urban migrants have different cardiovascular risk profiles than rural or urban dwellers. The objective of this study was to evaluate the sex differences with specific cardiovascular risk factors in rural-to-urban migrants.

Methods and Results

We used the rural-to-urban migrant group of the PERU MIGRANT cross-sectional study to investigate the sex differences in specific cardiovascular risk factors: obesity, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, as well as exposures of socioeconomic status, acculturation surrogates and behavioral characteristics. Logistic regression analysis was used to characterize strength of association between sex and our outcomes adjusting for potential confounders. The sample of migrants was 589 (mean age 46.5 years) and 52.4% were female. In the adjusted models, women were more likely to be obese (OR=5.97; 95%CI: 3.21–11) and have metabolic syndrome (OR=2.22; 95%CI: 1.39–3.55) than men, explaining the greatest variability for obesity and metabolic syndrome but not for hypertension.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that interventions for CVD in Peru should be sex-specific and address the unique health needs of migrant populations living in urban shantytowns since the risk factors for obesity and metabolic syndrome differ between males and females.     

The Association of Thyroid Nodule with Non-Iodized Salt among Chinese Children

Objective

The controversy that iodized salt may increase the risk of thyroid disorders has been aroused in China during the past decade. Most of studies focused on adult rather than children. We aimed to explore whether iodized salt was associated with an increased risk of thyroid nodule in Chinese children.

Methods

The cross-sectional study was conducted in Hangzhou, China, in 2010. Iodized salt intake, urine iodine concentration (UIC) and thyroid nodule (by ultrasonography) were measured in 3026 children. The associations of iodized salt with thyroid nodule were evaluated using multiple logistic regression models.

Results

The prevalence of thyroid nodule was 10.59% among Chinese children. Girls (11.89%) had higher prevalence of thyroid nodule than boys (9.26%). No significant association was observed between type of salt and thyroid nodule in pooled samples, boys and girls, respectively. Similar associations were observed between UIC and thyroid nodule. There was no significant association between milk consumption and thyroid nodule as well.

Conclusion

The present study indicated that non-iodized salt may not increase the risk of thyroid nodules among Chinese children. Similar associations were observed between milk consumption, UIC and thyroid nodules.