Sodium, potassium, and blood pressure : studies in the young and the old

Blood pressure rises sharply from infancy through adolescence. About two thirds of the total lifetime increase in systolic blood occurs in childhood. Throughout adult life, the rise in blood pressure with age continues slowly but steadily. Whereas the mean diastolic blood pressure level seems to decline after the age of 55, systolic blood pressure increases even further at older age

Inverse association of tea and flavonoid intakes with incident myocardial infarction: the Rotterdam Study

BACKGROUND: Dietary flavonoids may protect against cardiovascular disease, but evidence is still conflicting. Tea is the major source of flavonoids in Western populations. OBJECTIVE: The association of tea and flavonoid intake with incident myocardial infarction was examined in the general Dutch population. DESIGN: A longitudinal analysis was performed with the use of data from the Rotterdam Study-a population-based study of men and women aged >or=55 y. Diet was assessed at baseline (1990-1993) with a validated semiquantitative food-frequency questionnaire. The analysis included 4807 subjects with no history of myocardial infarction, who were followed until 31 December 1997. Data were analyzed in a Cox regression model, with adjustment for age, sex, body mass index, smoking status, pack-years of cigarette smoking, education level, and daily intakes of alcohol, coffee, polyunsaturated fat, saturated fat, fiber, vitamin E, and total energy. RESULTS: During 5.6 y of follow-up, a total o

Dietary antioxidants and risk of myocardial infarction in the elderly: the Rotterdam Study

BACKGROUND: Epidemiologic studies have shown dietary antioxidants to be inversely correlated with ischemic heart disease. OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether dietary beta-carotene, vitamin C, and vitamin E were related to the risk of myocardial infarction (MI) in an elderly population. DESIGN: The study sample consisted of 4802 participants of the Rotterdam Study aged 55-95 y who were free of MI at baseline and for whom dietary data assessed by a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire were available. During a 4-y follow-up period, 124 subjects had an MI. The association between energy-adjusted beta-carotene, vitamin C, and vitamin E intakes and risk of MI was examined by multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: Risk of MI for the highest compared with the lowest tertile of beta-carotene intake was 0.55 (95% CI: 0.34, 0.83; P for trend = 0.013), adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, pack-years, income, education, alcohol intake, energy-adjusted intakes of vitamin C and E, and use of antioxidative vitamin supplements. When beta-carotene intakes from supplements were considered, the inverse relation with risk of MI was slightly more pronounced. Stratifica

Alcohol consumption and risk of peripheral arterial disease: the Rotterdam study

Moderate alcohol consumption is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. Data on alcohol consumption and atherosclerosis are scarce. To determine the association between alcohol consumption and risk of peripheral arterial disease, the authors carried out a cross-sectional study (1990-1993) in the population-based Rotterdam Study among men and women aged 55 years or over. Data on alcohol consumption and peripheral arterial disease, as measured by the ankle/brachial blood pressure index, were available for 3,975 participants without symptomatic cardiovascular disease. Male

CYP1A2 and coffee intake and the modifying effect of sex, age, and smoking

Background: The enzyme CYP1A2 (cytochrome 1A2) is involved in the metabolism of certain drugs and caffeine, and its activity can be influenced by factors such as sex, age, and smoking. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs762551A>C, which has also been studied for its modifying effect on cardiovascular disease, has been reported to alter enzyme activity. Objective: The objective was to study the effect of CYP1A2, sex, age, and smoking on coffee intake. Design: Within the Rotterdam Study, a population-based cohort, all coffee drinkers for whom genome-wide association data were available were selected. Because SNP rs762551 was not on the Illumina 550 platform, SNP rs2472299 was used as a proxy, with the A allele of rs762551 linked to the G allele of rs2472299. Linear regression analyses were used to determine the effect and interaction of rs2472299, sex, age, and smoking on coffee intake. Adjusted geometric means of coffee intake were calculated per genotype for the different smoking and sex strata by using multivariable general linear models. A combined analysis, with the use of a "risk score,"was performed to determine the contribution of each separate factor. Results: rs2472299G>A, female sex, and nonsmoking were significantly inversely related to coffee intake. Coffee intake was lowest in nonsmoking women homozygous for rs2472299G>A (3.49 cups/d; ∼436 mL). All factors contributed almost linearly to the intake of coffee, with the highest coffee intake in smoking men without the A allele (5.32 cups/d; ∼665 mL). Conclusion: rs2472299G>A, linked to rs762551A>C, sex, age, and smoking significantly contribute to coffee intake

Levels and trends in cardiovascular risk factors and drug treatment in 4837 elderly Dutch myocardial infarction patients between 2002 and 2006

Background It is important to gain insight into opportunities for secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Our aim was to investigate levels and trends in cardiovascular risk factors and drug treatment in Dutch post-myocardial infarction (MI) patients between 2002 and 2006 and to make comparisons with the EUROASPIRE surveys (1999-2007). Methods We analysed data from 4837 post-MI patients (aged 69 years, 78% men) from 32 Dutch hospitals, using baseline cross-sectional data from the Alpha Omega Trial. Results Between 2002 and 2006, significant declines were found in the prevalence of smoking (23% to 16%, p<0.001), hypercholesterolaemia (≥5 mmol/l; 54% to 27%, p<0.0001) and hypertension (≥140/90 mmHg; 58% to 48%, p<0.001). The prevalence of antithrombotic drugs was high (97%). The prevalence of lipid-modifying drugs and antihypertensives was high, and increased (74% to 90%, p<0.0001 and 82% to 93%, p<0.001, respectively). The prevalence of obesity (27%) was high in 2002 and decreased to 24% in 2006, albeit not significantly. Diabetes prevalence was high and increased between 2002 and 2006 (18% to 22%, p00.02). In comparison with EUROASPIRE patients, who were on average 8-10 years younger, our study in 2006 included patients with lower levels of obesity, hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, diabetes and lower use of antiplatelets and β-blockers, but similar levels of lipid-modifying drugs. Conclusions This study showed that older Dutch post-MI patients were adequately treated with drugs, and that risk factors reached lower levels than in the younger EUROASPIRE patients. However, there is room for improvement in diet and lifestyle, given the high prevalence of smoking, obesity, and diabetes

Effects of Potassium or Sodium Supplementation on Mineral Homeostasis: A Controlled Dietary Intervention Study

CONTEXT: Although dietary potassium and sodium intake may influence calcium-phosphate metabolism and bone health, the effects on bone mineral parameters, including fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23), are unclear. OBJECTIVE: Here, we investigated the effects of potassium or sodium supplementation on bone mineral parameters. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS: We performed a post hoc analysis of a dietary controlled randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled crossover trial. Prehypertensive individuals not using antihypertensive medication (n = 36) received capsules containing potassium chloride (3 g/d), sodium chloride (3 g/d), or placebo. Linear mixed-effect models were used to estimate treatment effects. RESULTS: Potassium supplementation increased plasma phosphate (from 1.10 ± 0.19 to 1.15 ± 0.19 mmol/L, P = 0.004), in line with an increase in tubular maximum of phosphate reabsorption (from 0.93 ± 0.21 to 1.01 ± 0.20 mmol/L, P < 0.001). FGF23 decreased (114.3 [96.8-135.0] to 108.5 [93.5-125.9] RU/mL, P = 0.01), without change in parathyroid hormone and 25-hydroxy vitamin D3. Fractional calcium excretion decreased (from 1.25 ± 0.50 to 1.11 ± 0.46 %, P = 0.03) without change in plasma calcium. Sodium supplementation decreased both plasma phosphate (from 1.10 ± 0.19 to 1.06 ± 0.21 mmol/L, P = 0.03) and FGF23 (from 114.3 [96.8-135.0] to 108.7 [92.3-128.1] RU/mL, P = 0.02). Urinary and fractional calcium excretion increased (from 4.28 ± 1.91 to 5.45 ± 2.51 mmol/24 hours, P < 0.001, and from 1.25 ± 0.50 to 1.44 ± 0.54 %, P = 0.004, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Potassium supplementation led to a decrease in FGF23, which was accompanied by increase in plasma phosphate and decreased calcium excretion. Sodium supplementation reduced FGF23, but this was accompanied by dec

Heritability estimates for 361 blood metabolites across 40 genome-wide association studies

Metabolomics examines the small molecules involved in cellular metabolism. Approximately 50% of total phenotypic differences in metabolite levels is due to genetic variance, but heritability estimates differ across metabolite classes. We perform a review of all genome-wide association and (exome-) sequencing studies published between November 2008 and October 2018, and identify >800 class-specific metabolite loci associated with metabolite levels. In a twin-family cohort (N = 5117), these metabolite loci are leveraged to simultaneously estimate total heritability (h2 total), and the proportion of heritability captured by known metabolite loci (h2 Metabolite-hits) for 309 lipids and

Dietary acid load and risk of hypertension: The Rotterdam study

Background: Mild metabolic acidosis, which can be caused by diet, may result in elevated blood pressure (BP). Objective: The objective was to examine whether dietary acid load was associated with incident hypertension in a cohort of older Dutch adults from the Rotterdam Study. Design: The analyses included 2241 participants aged ≥55 y who were free of hypertension at baseline (1990-1993) and who had complete dietary and BP data. Dietary data were obtained from a 170-item food-frequency questionnaire. We used 2 measures to characterize dietary acid load: 1) potential renal acid load (PRAL) by using an algorithm including protein, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and magnesium, and 2) estimated net endogenous acid production (NEAP) based on protein and potassium. HRs for 6-y incidence of hypertension were obtained in tertiles of PRAL and NEAP with adjustment for age, sex, BMI, smoking, education, and intakes of alcohol, fiber, and total energy. Results: We identified 1113 incident cases of hypertension during 8707 person-years of follow-up. The median dietary acid load ranged from -14.6 to 19.9 mEq/d across categories of PRAL. Hypertension risk was not significantly associated with dietary acid load. The multivariate HRs (95% CIs) in consecutive tertiles of PRAL were 1.00 (reference), 1.01 (0.87, 1.17), and 1.02 (0.88, 1.18) (P trend = 0.83). The median dietary acid loads were 30.4, 36.7, and 43.7 mEq/d, respectively, in consecutive tertiles of NEAP. Corresponding HRs for NEAP were 1.00 (reference), 0.92 (0.80, 1.07), and 0.94 (0.81, 1.10) (P-trend = 0.46). Conclusion: The findings from this prospective cohort study provided no evidence of an association between dietary acid load and risk of hypertension in older adults