Handgrip strength is associated with risks of new-onset stroke and heart disease: results from 3 prospective cohorts

Abstract Background Stroke and heart disease are two major contributors to the global disease burden. We aimed to evaluate and compare the roles of different handgrip strength (HGS) expressions in predicting stroke and heart disease in three nationally representative cohorts. Methods This longitudinal study used data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), and the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). The Cox proportional hazard model was applied to analyze the relationship between HGS and stroke and heart disease, and Harrell’s C index was used to assess the predictive abilities of different HGS expressions. Results A total of 4,407 participants suffered from stroke and 9,509 from heart disease during follow-up. Compared with the highest quartile, participants in the lowest quartile of dominant HGS, absolute HGS and relative HGS possessed a significantly higher risk of new-onset stroke in Europe, America, and China (all P < 0.05). After adding HGS to office-based risk factors, there were minimal or no differences in the increases of Harrell’s C indexes among three HGS expressions. In contrast, the modest association between HGS and heart disease was only seen in SHARE and HRS, but not in CHARLS. Conclusion Our findings support that HGS can be used as an independent predictor of stroke in middle-aged and older European, American and Chinese populations, and the predictive ability of HGS may not depend on how it is expressed. The relationship between HGS and heart disease calls for further validation

Plasma Metabolic Profiles in Women are Menopause Dependent

<div><p>Menopause is an endocrinological transition that greatly affects health and disease susceptibility in middle-aged and elderly women. To gain new insights into the metabolic process of menopause, plasma metabolic profiles in 115 pre- and post-menopausal women were systematically analyzed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry in conjunction with univariate and multivariate statistical analysis. Metabolic signatures revealed considerable differences between pre- and post-menopausal women, and clear separations were observed between the groups in partial least-squares discriminant analysis score plots. In total, 28 metabolites were identified as potential metabolite markers for menopause, including up-regulated acylcarnitines, fatty acids, lysophosphatidylcholines, lysophosphatidylethanolamines, and down-regulated pregnanediol-3-glucuronide, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, <i>p</i>-hydroxyphenylacetic acid and dihydrolipoic acid. These differences highlight that significant alterations occur in fatty acid <i>β</i>-oxidation, phospholipid metabolism, hormone metabolism and amino acid metabolism in post-menopausal women. In conclusion, our plasma metabolomics study provides novel understanding of the metabolic profiles related to menopause, and will be useful for investigating menopause-related diseases and assessing metabolomic confounding factors.</p></div

Cohort profile: the Liyang cohort study on chronic diseases and risk factors monitoring in China (Liyang Study)

Purpose The Liyang cohort study on chronic diseases and risk factors monitoring in China (Liyang Study) is a prospective population-based study which aims to investigate and identify the determinants of the most prevalent chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and to evaluate the impact of demographic characteristics, lifestyle, dietary habits, cognition, disability and NCDs on the health-related quality of life.Participants Between March 2019 and June 2020, 10 056 individuals aged ≥18 years were administered a baseline survey through a multistage cluster random sampling in Liyang City, southern Jiangsu Province, China.Findings to date The Liyang Study included detailed sociodemographic, anthropometric and health-related behaviour, common NCDs and blood sample information. Moreover, the study gathered a series of data on specific scales including the activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, abbreviated mental test, Food Frequency Questionnaire and EuroQol 5-Dimensions 5-Levels Scale. Of the 10 056 participants, 52.92% (n=5322) were female and 92.26% (n=9278) came from rural areas. The mean age was 49.9±16.2 years. Men were more likely to have a higher level of education, annual income and a paid job than women (p&lt;0.05). The top three overall most prevalent NCDs in the study were hypertension (18.06%, n=1815), digestive diseases (7.88%, n=791), and arthritis or rheumatism (5.28%, n=530). Women had a significantly higher prevalence of diabetes (5.46%, n=290 vs 4.42%, n=209, p=0.016) and arthritis (6.04%, n=321 vs 4.42%, n=209, p&lt;0.001) than men, while the opposite was true for chronic lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (1.37%, n=65 vs 0.92%, n=49, p=0.032) and chronic hepatic diseases (0.80%, n=38 vs 0.47%, n=25, p=0.035).Future plans The current study will give valuable insights into the association between sociodemographic factors, health-related behaviour, diet, cognition, disability and genetic factors and the most prevalent NCDs among local community residents. Starting from 2022, a follow-up survey will be conducted every 3 years to further explore the causal relationship between the above factors and NCDs

Heat map demonstrating 28 menopause-related metabolites in 115 pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women.

<p>Heat map demonstrating 28 menopause-related metabolites in 115 pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women.</p

Demographic and clinical characteristics of the participants.

<p>Demographic and clinical characteristics of the participants.</p

PLS-DA three-dimensional scores plots and validation plots.

<p>(A) PLS-DA three-dimensional scores plot for pre-menopausal women <i>versus</i> post-menopausal women in ESI+ mode (three latent variables, R2X = 0.208, R2Y = 0.701, Q2 = 0.306). (B) Validation plot for pre-menopausal women <i>versus</i> post-menopausal women in ESI+ mode. (C) PLS-DA three-dimensional scores plot for pre-menopausal women <i>versus</i> post-menopausal women in ESI- mode (three latent variables, R2X = 0.278, R2Y = 0.713, Q2 = 0.450). (D) Validation plot for pre-menopausal women <i>versus</i> post-menopausal women in ESI- mode.</p

Twenty-eight potential metabolic biomarkers identified for menopause.

<p>Twenty-eight potential metabolic biomarkers identified for menopause.</p