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Shift workers may have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Circadian rhythm disturbances with sleep deficit could among others result in increased sympathetic activity and increased inflammation. A three-year follow-up study in industry shows that shift work increases arterial stiffening reflecting increased risk for future CVD. Objective: To assess changes in cardiovascular disease risk factors during a 3-year follow-up among 57 rotating shift workers and 29 day workers in industry. Methods: We collected demographics by questionnaire, examined blood pressure, heart rate, pulse wave velocity, carotid media thickness, and maximal oxygen uptake. We assessed blood samples for determination of lipids, glycosylated hemoglobin, C-reactive protein, markers of inflammation, and particle concentrations/respirable dust. Baseline comparisons were analyzed using logistic regression (plaque) and linear regression for all other outcomes. We applied mixed models to assess differences in change in health outcomes between the shift workers and the day workers. Results: At baseline, the adhesion molecules soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 and soluble P-selectin were elevated among the shift workers compared with that of the day workers. There was a significant difference in change in pulse wave velocity between shift workers (1.29-m/s increase) and day workers (0.11-m/s increase) over the 3-year follow-up. Respirable dust levels were below the Norwegian occupational exposure limit. Conclusions: Shift work in industry is associated with arterial stiffening reflecting increased risk for future cardiovascular disease. More uncertainly, we found some support for systemic inflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: Abnormal left ventricular (LV) geometry types, like LV hypertrophy (LVH) and concentric remodelling, are independently associated with impaired prognosis in hypertension. Little is known about the prevalence and covariables of abnormal LV geometry types in younger ischemic stroke patients., Methods: We used clinical and echocardiographic data from 280 patients aged 15-60 years included in the Norwegian Stroke in the Young Study. LVH was defined as LV mass index greater than 46.7 g/m in women and greater than 49.2 g/m in men. Concentric remodelling was considered present if posterior wall thickness/LV internal diameter ratio at least 0.43 in the absence of LVH. Arterial damage was assessed by mean common carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV)., Results: Abnormal LV geometry was found in 37% of patients. Concentric remodelling was the most prevalent abnormal LV geometry type, found in 21%, whereas LVH was found in 16%. In multivariable logistic regression analyses, LVH was associated with increased PWV, higher BMI and creatinine, and presence of diabetes and hypertension (all P < 0.05), whereas concentric remodelling was associated with higher mean carotid IMT independent of age (both P < 0.05)., Conclusion: In ischemic stroke survivors less than 60 years of age, abnormal LV geometry was common, found in 37%. Presence of abnormal LV geometry may contribute to the known higher risk of recurrent cardiovascular events in ischemic stroke survivors.

Background: Ischemic stroke survivors have high risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality even at young age, suggesting that early arterial aging is common among such patients., Methods: We measured aortic stiffness by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) in 205 patients (69% men) aged 15-60 years with acute ischemic stroke in the prospective Norwegian Stroke in the Young Study. High for age carotid-femoral PWV was identified in the reference normogram., Results: Patients were on average 49 ± 10 years old, 34% had a history of hypertension and 37% had metabolic syndrome (MetS). In the total study population, higher PWV was associated with history of hypertension (β = 0.18), higher age (β = 0.34), systolic blood pressure (BP) (β = 0.28) and serum creatinine (β = 0.18) and lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (β = -0.10, all p < 0.01) in multivariate linear regression analysis (multiple R2 = 0.42, p < 0.001). High for age PWV was found in 18% of patients. In univariate analyses, known hypertension was associated with a 6-fold, MetS with a 4-fold and presence of carotid plaque with a 3.7-fold higher risk for high for age PWV (all p < 0.01). In multiple logistic regression analysis higher systolic BP (odds ratio [OR] 1.04; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02-1.06; p < 0.01), history of hypertension (OR 3.59; 95% CI 1.52-8.51; p < 0.01), low HDL cholesterol (OR 3.03; 95% CI 1.00-9.09; p = 0.05) and higher serum creatinine (OR 1.04; 95% CI 1.01-1.06; p < 0.01) were associated with high for age PWV., Conclusions: Higher PWV is common in younger and middle-aged ischemic stroke patients and associated with a clustering of classical cardiovascular risk factors. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01597453.