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BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: There have been few studies on the association of fruit and vegetable (FV) intake with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in Asian populations where both dietary habits and disease structure are different from western countries. No study in Asia has found its significant association with stroke. We examined associations of FV intake with mortality risk from total CVD, stroke and coronary heart diseases (CHDs) in a representative Japanese sample. METHODS: A total of 9112 participants aged from 24-year follow-up data in the NIPPON DATA80, of which baseline data were obtained in the National Nutrition Survey Japan in 1980, were studied. Dietary data were obtained from 3-day weighing dietary records. Participants were divided into sex-specific quartiles of energy adjusted intake of FV. Multivariate-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated between strata of the total of FV intake, fruit intake and vegetable intake. The adjustment included age, sex, smoking, drinking habit and energy adjusted intakes of sodium and some other food groups. RESULTS: Participants with higher FV intake were older, ate more fish, milk and dairy products and soybeans and legumes and ate less meat. Multivariate-adjusted HR (95% confidence interval;P; P for trend) for the highest versus the lowest quartile of the total of FV intake was 0.74 (0.61-0.91;0.004;0.003) for total CVD, 0.80 (0.59-1.09;0.105;0.036) for stroke and 0.57 (0.37-0.87;0.010;0.109) for CHD. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that higher total intake of FVs was significantly associated with reduced risk of CVD mortality in Japan. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2015) 69, 482-488; doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2014.276; published online 14 January 2015, INTRODUCTION Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are among the leading causes of death in most developed countries. (1-3) An increasing number of cohort studies, many of them from western countries, have reported [...]

BACKGROUND: There is now increasing evidence that exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) can contribute to the development of inflammatory diseases such as atherosclerosis. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to examine associations of serum concentrations of POPs with self-reported history of cardiovascular disease (CVD). DESIGN: Cross-sectional associations of serum POPs concentrations with the prevalence of selfreported CVD were investigated in 889 adults [less than or greater than] ?40 years of age in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2002. We selected 21 POPs [3 polychlorinated dibenzo-pdioxins (PCDDs), 3 polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), 5 dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), 6 nondioxin-like PCBs, and 4 organochlorine (OC) pesticides] because they were detectable in [greater than or equal to] 60% of participants. RESULTS: Dioxin-like PCBs, nondioxin-like PCBs, and OC pesticides were positively associated with the prevalence of CVD only among females. Compared with those in the lowest quartile of serum concentration, the odds ratios for CVD across increasing quartiles were 0.9, 2.0, and 5.0 for dioxin-like PCBs (p for trend < 0.01), 1.2, 1.2, and 3.8 for nondioxin-like PCBs (p for trend < 0.01), and 1.9, 1.7, and 4.0 for OC pesticides (p for trend = 0.03). PCDDs showed positive trends with the prevalence of CVD in both males and females; adjusted odds ratios were 1.4, 1.7, and 1.9 (p for trend [equal to] 0.07, males and females combined). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings need to be carefully interpreted because of the cross-sectional design and use of self-reported CVD. Prospective studies are needed to clarify these associations. KEY WORDS: cardiovascular diseases, dioxin, persistent organic pollutants, pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls. Environ Health Perspect 115:1204-1209 (2007). doi:10.1289/ehp.10184 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 25 May 2007], Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are a family of lipophilic stable chemicals that bioaccumulate in adipose tissue and create a lasting toxic body burden (Van den Berg et al. 2006). In [...]

A large-scale national representative community survey of 11,122 persons aged more than 35 years included the investigation of the coincidence of depressive symptoms, vital exhaustion, cardiovascular disorders, stroke, and myocardial infarction. A total of 20.3% of the survey participants reported having experienced a cardiovascular disorder (CVD). Of the subjects reporting a CVD, 52.1% exhibited depressive symptoms (22.0% subthreshold depressive symptoms, 30.1% clinical depression), and 69.7% exhibited vital exhaustion. The authors investigated 3 cardiovascular subgroups: (1) subjects having experienced a myocardial infarction (Ml), (2) subjects having experienced stroke, and (3) subjects with a CVD but no experience of either an Ml or a stroke. The frequency and severity of depressive symptoms did not differ significantly in the 3 subgroups. CVD subjects with no MI or stroke had almost as high frequencies of depressive symptoms and vital exhaustion as patients who experienced stroke or MI. The strength of relationships between these psychological variables and CVDs do not differ significantly from the relationships between hypertension or diabetes and CVDs. Depressive symptoms and increased vital exhaustion have exceptionally high comorbidity with CVDs. The authors detected the same high comorbidity among patients with a milder CVD and without stroke or Ml. The assessment and management of depressive symptoms and vital exhaustion should be routine procedure in clinical cardiology. Index Terms: CVD, depression, stroke, vital exhaustion, Cardiovascular disorders (CVDs) are major public health problems worldwide. Community-based prevention of CVDs is crucial in efforts to improve the morbidity status of populations. Community-based prevention requires a knowledge of [...]

We collaborated with Maine American Indian tribes to evaluate racial coding on death certificates and the effects of coding errors on estimation of cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. Lists of tribal decedents were matched to death certificates; 38.5% were misclassified (17.8% coding errors; 20.7% data entry errors). After errors were corrected, CVD mortality trends were similar between American Indians and all Maine residents. Racial misclassification occurred during a period when budget cuts had prompted procedural changes. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2004.053751)

A study was conducted to determine whether adults with and without diabetes experienced similar declines in incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) in 1950-1995.The results reported a 50% reduction in the rate of incident CVD events among adults with diabetes, although the absolute risk of CVD is 2-fold greater than among persons without diabetes.

There has been recent interest in determining whether neighborhood characteristics are related to the cardiovascular health of residents. However, there are no data regarding the relationship between neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) and prevalence of subclinical cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the elderly. We related personal SES (education, income, and occupation type) and neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics (a block-group score summing six variables reflecting neighborhood income and wealth, education, and occupation) to the prevalence of subclinical CVD (asymptomatic peripheral vascular disease or carotid atherosclerosis, electrocardiogram or echocardiogram abnormalities, and/or positive responses to Rose Questionnaire claudication or angina pectoris) among 3545 persons aged 65 and over, without prevalent CVD, in the Cardiovascular Health Study. Sixty percent of participants had at least one indicator of subclinical disease. Compared to those without, those with subclinical disease had significantly lower education, income, and neighborhood scores and were more likely to have blue-collar jobs. After adjustment for age, gender, and race, those in the lowest SES groups had increased prevalence of subclinical disease compared with those in the highest SES groups (OR = 1.50; 95% CI 1.21, 1.86 for income; OR = 1.41; 95% CI 1.18, 1.69 for education; OR = 1.39; 95% CI 1.16, 1.67 for block-group score). Those reporting a blue-collar lifetime occupation had greater prevalence of subclinical disease relative to those reporting a white-collar occupation (OR = 1.29; 95% CI 1.02-1.59). After adjustment for behavioral and biomedical risk factors, all of these associations were reduced. Neighborhood score tended to remain inversely associated with subclinical disease after adjustment for personal socioeconomic indicators but associations were not statistically significant. Personal income and blue-collar occupation remained significantly associated with subclinical disease after simultaneous adjustment for neighborhood score and education. Personal and neighborhood socioeconomic indicators were associated with subclinical disease prevalence in this elderly cohort. These relationships were reduced after controlling for traditional CVD risk factors. Keywords: Socioeconomic status; Income; Education; Occupation; Subclinical disease

ALTHOUGH MORTALITY RATES are declining, cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death in the United States and account for half of all deaths [1]. The decline in mortality is […]

Health Practice Correlates in Three Adult Age Groups: Results from Two Community Surveys Synopsis Independently done surveys of a target population can make an important contribution to knowledge about the […]