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Background Ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) is related to a low cardiovascular disease risk profile. This study aimed to investigate CVH metrics with both the biomarkers and markers of subclinical impairments of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in subjects from central south China. Methods The ideal CVH score (non-smoking status; ideal body mass index; regular physical activity; healthy diet; and an optimal serum cholesterol, blood pressure, and glucose profile; 1 point for each; total score: 0–7) was collected from 3009 participants without a history of CVDs. Subclinical biomarkers were assessed using C-reactive protein, homocysteine, and microalbuminuria. The presence of subclinical disease markers was defined as having at least one of the following: increased carotid intima-media thickness, carotid plaque, left ventricular hypertrophy, left ventricular systolic dysfunction, or a reduced ankle-brachial index. The association of biomarkers and markers with the CVH score was evaluated using multivariate logistic regression and linear regression analyses. Results Only 0.2% of the study participants met all 7 ideal CVH metrics (CVH score = 7). Compared to the female participants, the male participants had poorer CVH profiles and a higher incidence of subclinical lesions (P

Associations between the 14-point CVH score (per 1-unit increase) and each component of the subclinical disease markers stratified by gender. (DOCX 51 kb)

Associations between the 14-point CVH score (per 1- unit increase) and number of the subclinical disease markers stratified by gender. (DOCX 50 kb)

Associations between the 14-point CVH score (per 1-unit increase) and the log-transformed subclinical biomarker level stratified by gender. (DOCX 48 kb)

Creation of the 14-point CVH score. (DOCX 52 kb)

We examined the relationship of several cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) to brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) in Chinese subjects.This was a cross-sectional study. In 2,511 Chinese adults (age 46.86±9.52 years, 1,891 men and 620 women) recruited from people who underwent health screening at The Third Xiangya Hospital, patients' CVRF [age, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), blood pressure (BP), cholesterol parameters, creatinine (Cr), uric acid (UA), glucose level and smoking] and prevalence of present disease (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease and hyperlipidemia) were investigated.Multivariate analysis revealed that FMD negative correlated with age (β=-0.29, P0.001), gender (β=-0.12, P0.001), BMI (β=-0.12, P=0.001), WC (β=-0.10, P=0.011), systolic BP (SBP) (β=-0.12, P0.001), fasting glucose (β=-0.04, P=0.009), total cholesterol (TC) (β=-0.04, P=0.014), smoking (β=-0.05, P=0.003), and baseline brachial artery diameter (β=-0.35, P0.001). FMD decreased with increasing age in both genders. In women, FMD was higher than men and age-related decline in FMD was steepest after age 40; FMD was similar in men above 55 years old.In Chinese subjects, FMD may be a usefully marker of CVRF. Age, gender, BMI, WC, SBP, fasting glucose, TC, smoking, and baseline brachial artery diameter were independent variables related to the impairment of FMD. The influence of CVRF on endothelial function is more in women than men.

Background The American Heart Association (AHA) recently developed definitions of cardiovascular health for adults and children based on 7 cardiovascular disease risk factors or health behaviors. We applied this new construct to examine the cardiovascular health status in adult Chinese urban residents. Methods Data of 1,012,418 subjects aged 20–65years (55% were men; mean age, 42.4years) who received health examination at 58 health examination centers across China was analyzed. The AHA ideal health behaviors index and ideal health factor index were evaluated among the subjects. Results Only 0.6% of male and 2.6% of female subjects met all 7 health components, and only 39.1% of the subjects met 5 or more components of ideal cardiovascular health. The prevalence of "ideal", "intermediate" and "poor" cardiovascular health was 1.5%, 33.9% and 64.6%, respectively. Conclusion About two-thirds of the adult Chinese urban population has "poor" cardiovascular health. Comprehensive individual and population-based interventions must be developed to improve cardiovascular health status in China.

BACKGROUND The demand for effective intervention for subhealth conditions is growing with increasing numbers of people being in a state of subhealth with a poor quality of life. Future research and evaluation of the treatment methods for subhealth conditions from the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) may provide an important direction for developing effective management of these conditions. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Xiaopi Yishen herbal extract granules (XPYS-HEG), a compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine for relieving fatigue and promoting a cheerful spirit for the treatment of people with fatigue-predominant subhealth due to liver-qi stagnation and spleen-qi deficiency. DESIGN, SETTING PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTIONS: A multi-center, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical study was undertaken. The study period was 18 weeks, including 6 weeks for intervention and 12 weeks for follow-up. Participants were recruited from medical center and outpatient clinics of three hospitals in China, i.e. Xiaotangshan Hospital of Beijing, the First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of TCM and the Affiliated Hospital of Liaoning University of TCM. Two hundred participants who met the criteria of fatigue-predominant subhealth and liver-qi stagnation and spleen-qi deficiency in TCM were allocated randomly to the treatment group (XPYS, n=100) and control group (placebo, n=100). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The total score of Fatigue Scale-14 (FS-14) was used to evaluate the fatigue status of subjects and the extent of liver-qi stagnation and spleen-qi deficiency syndrome was also recorded. RESULTS Three cases in the XPYS group withdrew from the trial. There were 200 subjects who entered to full analysis set (FAS) analysis and 197 subjects fitted in the per-protocol set (PPS) analysis. (1) According to the score changes of FS-14, the effectiveness rates in the XPYS and placebo group were as follows: 14.0% vs 9.0% (FAS) and 14.4% vs 9.0% (PPS) for complete remission, 19.0% vs 15.0% (FAS) and 19.6% vs 15.0% (PPS) for obvious effects, 39.0% vs 26.0% (FAS) and 39.2% vs 26.0% (PPS) for effective, and 72.0% vs 50.0% (FAS) and 73.2% vs 50.0% (PPS) for complete efficacy. The efficacy of XPYS-HEG was superior to the placebo statistically (P

To explore the association of hypertension and carotid atherosclerosis in a general population in China.A population-based epidemiological survey on cardiovascular diseases was performed in autumn, 2002. A total of 1198 rural residents with 426 men and 776 women aged 43 - 73 years, underwent carotid duplex examination. Hypertension was classified into 6 groups of optimal, normal, high-normal, stage 1, 2 and 3.(1) A significant positive dose-response relation was found between hypertension categories, duration of hypertension and intima-media thickness (IMT) in both genders (trend test P0.01). After adjustment of age, body mass index, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, glucose and smoking, the relation did not change. The associations between duration of hypertension and IMT disappeared after further adjustment with blood pressure. (2) The occurrence of plaque was positively associated with blood pressure groups and duration of hypertension, as well as in the age-adjusted models. The associations between duration of hypertension and plaque weakened or disappeared after further adjustment with systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure or hypertension categories.Hypertension was associated with subclinical carotid atherosclerosis. Prolonged course of disease might aggravate the carotid atherosclerosis.

To investigate the features of BP, HR, cerebral blood flow (CBF) and heart rate variation (HRV) during sequential head-up tilt table test (HUT) and provide information for methodology of testing tendency to syncope in pilots.Sixteen healthy male were exposed to HUT +45 degrees 20 min, +60 degrees 20 min, and +75 degrees 20 min respectively with 5 min rests in between. CBFV, HR, HRV, BP were measured with transcranial doppler image (TCI), 12-Lead in phase ECG.1) As the tilt angle became larger, HR and DBP increased gradually (P0.05), with SBP, PP and CBF Velocity (Vs,Vm,Vd) descended. There were significant differences among the various conditions. CV became smaller before +75 degrees, and then it began to increase. 2) Correlation between physiological indices and techno-indices were analyzed. At the point of 1 min, tilt angle was significantly positively correlated with SBP, DBP, MAP, Vd, and sdRR (P0.01); At the point of 20 min, tilt angle was significantly positively correlated with HR and sdRR (P0.01), but negatively correlated with SBP, PP, Vs and mRR (P0.01), time of exposure was positively correlated with HP (P0.01), but negatively correlated with Vm, Vd, and mRR (P0.01). 3) Correlation among physiological indices were also analyzed. HR were negatively correlated with SBP, Vs, Vm and Vd (P0.01), SBP were significantly positively correlated with Vd, and mRR (P0.01). Vs, Vm, Vd were significantly positively correlated with mRR and sdRR (P0.01).By investigating HR, BP, HRV and CBFV during of different angles, some advises for evaluating the tendency to syncope in pilots were put forward.

BACKGROUND: The presence of food-specific IgG antibodies in human serum may be useful for diagnosis of adverse food reactions. However, the clinical utility of testing for such antibodies remains very controversial. The aim of this study was to evaluate the serum levels and population distribution of food-specific IgGs and their association with chronic symptoms in a large-scale Chinese population. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A total of 21305 adult participants from different regions of China had 14 type of food-specific serum IgG antibodies that were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Among these, 5,394 participants were randomly chosen to complete follow-up questionnaire surveys on their dietary characteristics and chronic symptoms. The concentrations of food-specific IgGs against 14 foods ranged from a median (interquartile range) of 7.3 (3.8, 12.6) U/mL of pork-specific IgG to 42.3 (28.8, 60.2) U/mL of crab-specific IgG. The concentration of food-specific IgGs was closely related to gender; after adjustment for region and age, women had higher concentrations of food-specific IgGs against all of the 14 foods except chicken (regression coefficient (95% CI): 0.01 (-0.003, 0.023); P = 0.129) and corn (0.002 (-0.013, 0.016); P = 0.825). Similar results were also found in the relationship of geographic region to the food-specific IgG concentrations for the 14 foods. Chronic symptoms were negatively associated with the concentrations of a few food-specific IgGs, and were positively associated with the concentrations of other food-specific IgGs. CONCLUSIONS: The levels of food-specific IgGs were variable both in healthy and in symptomatic Chinese adults. These findings raise awareness that demographic factors, the type of food and specific chronic symptoms should be considered before food elimination treatment based on IgG testing in patients with chronic symptoms is used in clinical practice.