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

A hyperalgebraic proof of the isomorphism and isogeny theorems for reductive groups

textabstractWe examined whether specific input data and assumptions explain outcome differences in otherwise comparable health impact assessment models. Seven population health models estimating the impact of salt reduction on morbidity and mortality in western populations were compared on four sets of key features, their underlying assumptions and input data. Next, assumptions and input data were varied one by one in a default approach (the DYNAMO-HIA model) to examine how it influences the estimated health impact. Major differences in outcome were related to the size and shape of the dose-response relation between salt and blood pressure and blood pressure and disease. Modifying the effect sizes in the salt to health association resulted in the largest change in health impact estimates (33% lower), whereas other changes had less influence. Differences in health impact assessment model structure and input data may affect the health impact estimate. Therefore, clearly defined assumptions and transparent reporting for different models is crucial. However, the estimated impact of salt reduction was substantial in all of the models used, emphasizing the need for public health actions

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