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Purpose: To evaluate patterns of lung function in healthy, working Chinese men and women in different geographic areas of the People's Republic of China (PRC).Methods: We conducted lung function tests on 2926 asymptomatic, never smoking Chinese men and women aged 35-56 years residing in or around Beijing and Guangzhou. Within each of these locations, separate urban and rural samples were recruited.Results: Age and height adjusted lung function was greater in Beijing than in Guangzhou, and within each city for residents of rural vs. urban areas. Among women, estimated rates of lung aging were greater in Beijing than in Guangzhou, and in urban vs. rural areas. Both FEV(1) and FVC exhibited a curvilinear association with body mass index.Conclusions: Lung function data from this largely working cohort exhibited marked geographic and urban-rural differences in this never smoking, adult Chinese cohort. Such variation is not uncommon and may reflect differences in body size, diet, and environmental and occupational exposures across these different settings. Caution should be used in applying published reference equations to populations from different parts of the PRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: We assessed whether longitudinal changes in body mass index (BMI) are positively associated with changes in 10-year American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk scores in middle-aged blacks compared to whites., Methods: Data were from 1691 participants enrolled in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study aged 40 years or more in 2000-2001, who had follow-up examinations 5 and 10 years later., Results: The prevalence of obesity increased from 32.3% in 2000-2001 (mean age: 42.8 years) to 41.7% in 2010-2011, higher in blacks than whites. The corresponding change in 10-year ASCVD risk was significantly higher for blacks (men: 4.5%-9.6%, women: 1.7%-5.0%) than whites (men: 2.4%-5.2%, women: 0.7%-1.6%). In 2010-2011, 57.5% of black men had ASCVD risk scores of 7.5% or more compared to white men (14.7%), black women (17.4%), and white women (1.6%). Although BMI trends were positively associated with 10-year change in ASCVD risk scores (0.07% per 1 kg/m(2) increase), it explained very little variance in risk score trends in all race-sex groups., Conclusions: In middle-aged adults, longitudinal changes in BMI had little independent influence on changes in 10-year ASCVD risk scores as its effect may be largely mediated through ASCVD risk factors already accounted for in the risk score., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: The objectives of this manuscript are to assess differences in blood pressure levels and in hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control for selected rural and urban areas in the U.S. and Poland, where ischemic heart disease mortality trends are different., Methods: Included are white persons aged 45-64 selected in Minneapolis, MN suburbs [urban] and Washington County, MD [semi-rural] from the U.S. Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC) surveyed in 1987-89, and in Warsaw [urban] and Tarnobrzeg Province [semi-rural] from Poland's Pol-MONICA Project surveyed in 1987-88. Sample sizes were: U.S.--3,696 men, 3,801 women; Poland--875 men, 960 women., Results: Mean blood pressures were > 15% higher for Polish samples than for the U.S. (p < 0.01). In multivariable analysis, hypertension was significantly positively related to age and body mass index (BMI) in both U.S. and Polish samples (except age in Polish men), and to heart rate in Polish samples and U.S. rural women. Smoking was significantly negatively related to hypertension in urban Polish and rural U.S. men. Hypertension awareness, treatment, and control were better in U.S. than in Polish samples. In the U.S. > 80% of subjects with hypertension (systolic blood pressure (SBP) > or = 160 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) > or = 95 mmHg or on treatment) were controlled whereas in Polish samples < or = 17% of hypertensive men and 16% of hypertensive women were controlled. When SBP > or = 140 mmHg or DBP > or = 90 mmHg or on treatment defined hypertension, control was about 55% in U.S. samples and about 2% in Polish samples., Conclusions: Hypertension prevalence is higher and blood pressure levels are less well controlled in Polish than in U.S. samples. These striking differences can be expected to contribute to opposing trends in coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality in the two countries. Hypertension control programs in the U.S. are almost certainly responsible for much of the observed differences. There is a clear need for similar programs in Poland.

Purpose: To examine community differences in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors among black and white young adults by combining data from two large epidemiologic studies., Methods: Data are from participants aged 20-31 years in the Coronary Artery Risk Development In Young Adults (CARDIA) study (1987-1988; N = 4129) and the Bogalusa Heart study (1988-1991; N = 1884), adjusting for data collection differences prior to analysis. CARDIA includes four urban sites: Birmingham, Alabama; Chicago, Illinois; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Oakland, California. Bogalusa is a semi-rural town in Southeastern Louisiana. CVD risk factors examined were smoking status, body habitus, and blood pressure., Results: In Birmingham and Bogalusa, more white than black women were current smokers; no ethnic differences were observed among men. In Chicago, Minneapolis, and Oakland, more blacks were current smokers than were whites. For all sites, educational level was strongly inversely related to current smoking status; ethnic differences were more apparent among those with up to a high school education. Among white men and women, prevalence of obesity (body mass index > 31.1 kg/m2 in men and 32.3 kg/m2 in women) was greater in Birmingham and Bogalusa than in Chicago. Minneapolis, and Oakland. Mean systolic blood pressures were highest in Bogalusa, and the proportion of black men with elevated blood pressure (> or = 130/85 mmHg) was higher in Bogalusa and Birmingham., Conclusions: Community and ethnic differences in CVD risk factors were observed among young adults in two large epidemiologic studies. Further studies may enhance our understanding of the relationship of geographic differences in CVD risk to subsequent disease.

Purpose: The purpose of this manuscript is to examine changes in blood lipid levels and related factors between 1983 and 1987 in two selected Polish populations, to evaluate these changes and their association with other coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors, and to examine the nutrient intake changes for consistency with observed lipid changes., Methods: Men and women, aged 35-64 were screened from Warsaw and rural Tarnobrzeg province, Poland-the Pol-MONICA screening sites. An independent random sample of 5132 screened in 1983-84 and a second independent random sample of 2596 screened in 1987-88 were compared. A 25% cohort of the 1983-84 sample was also rescreened in 1987-88 (n = 1236) and 24-hour dietary recall information on this cohort was used to evaluate nutrient intake changes and their relationship to the lipid changes., Results: For the random samples, the total cholesterol increased by 5.1 mg/dL (rural) and by 7.9 mg/dL (urban) for women; there were no significant changes among men. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) increased for all site and gender subgroups by 5.4-8.7 mg/dL. Among rural men and women, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) decreased by 3.4 and 3.3 mg/dL, respectively, whereas it increased by 3.3 mg/dL among urban women and did not change among urban men. Total triglycerides (TG) increased by 9.5 mg/dL for rural men, with no significant change for rural women. For urban men and women, TG decreased by 29.5 and 21.8 mg/dL respectively. In the cohort, changes in dietary intake (decreases in energy from fat, Keys index and increases in the polyunsaturated to saturated fats ratio) were related to a decrease in TC at both sites and to a decrease or smaller increase in LDL-C for rural men., Conclusions: The observed changes were generally unfavorable, with a decrease in the proportion of persons with desirable lipid levels. At both sites nutritional changes were favorable, including a drop in total energy intake. Less pronounced were changes in percentages of total energy from fats, where the only significant decrease was for rural women; however, improvements in dietary fat composition and declines in cholesterol consumption were found. These favorable changes in diet were not strong enough or were not in effect long enough to counter the unfavorable changes in blood lipids.

To identify determinants of recent secular trends in lipids and characterize their influence on age-related increases in LDL-cholesterol, we examined a cohort of black and white men and women aged 18-30 in 1985-1986. Secular trends were determined by comparing participants aged 25-30 at baseline with those aged 25-30 at year 7 (2788 and 1395 participants, respectively). LDL-cholesterol was lower among those 25-30 at year 7 (5.9 to 10.2 mg/dL, depending on race-sex group; P < 0.001); weight was higher (8.3 to 12.5 lb; P < 0.001); Keys score was lower (-4.2 to -7.3 units; P < 0.001); and use of oral contraceptives was greater (white women only, P < 0.01). Among 4086 participants followed for 7 years, LDL-cholesterol changed little or decreased, despite substantial weight increases in all groups (11.6 to 19.0 lb; P < 0.001). Keys scores decreased by 6.1 to 8.0 units, and use of oral contraceptives decreased (P < 0.001). Declining secular trends in LDL-cholesterol occurred despite upward trends in weight; the decline was associated with lower dietary fat and cholesterol and offset expected age-related increases in LDL-cholesterol.