Does sex matter in the associations between classic risk factors and fatal coronary heart disease in populations from the Asia-Pacific region?

Background: There is much interest in promoting healthy heart awareness among women. However, little is known about the reasons behind the lower rates of heart disease among women compared with men, and why this risk difference diminishes with age. Previous comparative studies have generally had insufficient numbers of women to quantify such differences reliably. Methods: We carried out an individual participant data meta-analysis of 39 cohort studies (32 from Asian countries and 7 from Australia and New Zealand). Cox models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) for coronary death, comparing men to women. Further adjustments were made for several proven coronary risk factors to quantify their contributions to the sex differential. Sex interactions were tested for the same risk factors. Results: During 4 million person-years of follow-up, there were 1989 (926 female) deaths from coronary heart disease (CHD). The age-adjusted and study-adjusted male/female HR (95% confidence interval [95% CI]) was 2.05 (1.89-2.22). At baseline, 54% of men vs. 7% of women were current smokers; hence, adjustment for smoking explained the largest component (20%) of this HR. A significant sex interaction was observed between systolic blood pressure (SBP) and CHD mortality such that a 10 mm Hg increase was associated with a 15% greater increase in the relative risk (RR) of coronary death in women compared with men (p = 0.002). Conclusions: Only a small amount of the sex differential in coronary death could be explained by differences in the prevalence of classic risk factors. Alternative explanations are required to explain the age-related attenuation of the sex difference in CHD risk. © Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.published_or_final_versio

Sleep duration and the risk of breast cancer: the Ohsaki Cohort Study

In a prospective study of 23 995 Japanese women, short sleep duration was associated with higher risk of breast cancer (143 cases), compared with women who slept 7 h per day, the multivariate hazard ratio of those who slept ⩽6 h per day was 1.62 (95% confidence interval: 1.05–2.50; P for trend=0.03)

A comparison of risk factors for mortality from heart failure in Asian and non-Asian populations: An overview of individual participant data from 32 prospective cohorts from the Asia-Pacific Region

Background: Most of what is known regarding the epidemiology of mortality from heart failure (HF) comes from studies within Western populations with few data available from the Asia-Pacific region where the burden of heart failure is increasing.Methods: Individual level data from 543694 (85% Asian; 36% female) participants from 32 cohorts in the Asia Pacific Cohort Studies Collaboration were included in the analysis. Adjusted hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for mortality from HF were estimated separately for Asians and non-Asians for a quintet of cardiovascular risk factors: systolic blood pressure, diabetes, body mass index, cigarette smoking and total cholesterol. All analyses were stratified by sex and study.Results: During 3,793,229 person years of follow-up there were 614 HF deaths (80% Asian). The positive associations between elevated blood pressure, obesity, and cigarette smoking were consistent for Asians and non-Asians. There was evidence to indicate that diabetes was a weaker risk factor for death from HF for Asians compared with non-Asians: HR 1.26 (95% CI: 0.74-2.13) versus 3.04 (95% CI 1.76-5.25) respectively; p for interaction = 0.022. Additional adjustment for covariates did not materially change the overall associations. There was no good evidence to indicate that total cholesterol was a risk factor for HF mortality in either population.Conclusions: Most traditional cardiovascular risk factors including elevated blood pressure, obesity and cigarette smoking appear to operate similarly to increase the risk of death from HF in Asians and non-Asians populations alike. © 2014 Huxley et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Impact of single nucleotide polymorphism on short stature and reduced tongue pressure among community-dwelling elderly Japanese participants: a cross-sectional study

Background: Asian-specific single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) (rs3782886) is reported to be associated with myocardial infarction; sarcopenia is reported to be associated with coronary subclinical atherosclerosis. On the other hand, short stature has been revealed as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. However, no studies have reported on the association between sarcopenia and short stature nor on the impact of rs3782886 on this association. Methods: Since reduced maximum voluntary tongue pressure against the palate (MTP) reflects one aspect of sarcopenia, we conducted a cross-sectional study of 537 community-dwelling elderly Japanese participants aged 60?89 years who had participated in a general health checkup in 2015. Short stature was defined as values at or under the 25th percentile, and reduced MTP was defined as the lowest tertile of the study population (<158.0 cm and <26.5 kPa for men, <145.0 cm and <24.1 kPa for women). Results: Independent of classical cardiovascular risk factors, short stature was revealed to be positively associated with reduced MTP. The adjusted-odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of reduced MTP for short stature was 1.87 (1.19, 2.94). We also found that independent of known cardiovascular risk factors, with the non-minor homo of rs3782886 taken as the reference group, the adjusted OR and 95% CI for short stature and reduced MTP of the minor homo allele were 3.06 (1.23, 7.63) and 3.26 (1.33, 8.03), respectively. Conclusion: Short stature is independently associated with reduced MTP, with Asian-specific SNPs possibly playing an important role in this association

Dietary patterns associated with fall-related fracture in elderly Japanese: a population based prospective study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Diet is considered an important factor for bone health, but is composed of a wide variety of foods containing complex combinations of nutrients. Therefore we investigated the relationship between dietary patterns and fall-related fractures in the elderly.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We designed a population-based prospective survey of 1178 elderly people in Japan in 2002. Dietary intake was assessed with a 75-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), from which dietary patterns were created by factor analysis from 27 food groups. The frequency of fall-related fracture was investigated based on insurance claim records from 2002 until 2006. The relationship between the incidence of fall-related fracture and modifiable factors, including dietary patterns, were examined. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to examine the relationships between dietary patterns and incidence of fall-related fracture with adjustment for age, gender, Body Mass Index (BMI) and energy intake.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among 877 participants who agreed to a 4 year follow-up, 28 suffered from a fall-related fracture. Three dietary patterns were identified: mainly vegetable, mainly meat and mainly traditional Japanese. The moderately confirmed (see statistical methods) groups with a Meat pattern showed a reduced risk of fall-related fracture (Hazard ratio = 0.36, 95% CI = 0.13 - 0.94) after adjustment for age, gender, BMI and energy intake. The Vegetable pattern showed a significant risk increase (Hazard ratio = 2.67, 95% CI = 1.03 - 6.90) after adjustment for age, gender and BMI. The Traditional Japanese pattern had no relationship to the risk of fall-related fracture.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results of this study have the potential to reduce fall-related fracture risk in elderly Japanese. The results should be interpreted in light of the overall low meat intake of the Japanese population.</p

Soy isoflavones and their relationship with microflora: beneficial effects on human health in equol producers

The bioavailability of soy isoflavones depends on the composition of the microflora for each subject. Bacteria act on different isoflavones with increased or reduced absorption and cause biotransformation of these compounds into metabolites with higher biological activity. S-equol is the most important metabolite and only 25–65 % of the population have the microflora that produces this compound. The presence of equol-producing bacteria in soy product consumers means that the consumption of such products for prolonged periods leads to lower cardiovascular risk, reduced incidence of prostate and breast cancer, and greater relief from symptoms related to the menopause such as hot flushes and osteoporosis

Gene polymorphisms in association with emerging cardiovascular risk markers in adult women

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Evidence on the associations of emerging cardiovascular disease risk factors/markers with genes may help identify intermediate pathways of disease susceptibility in the general population. This population-based study is aimed to determine the presence of associations between a wide array of genetic variants and emerging cardiovascular risk markers among adult US women.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The current analysis was performed among the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III phase 2 samples of adult women aged 17 years and older (sample size n = 3409). Fourteen candidate genes within <it>ADRB2, ADRB3, CAT, CRP, F2, F5, FGB, ITGB3, MTHFR, NOS3, PON1, PPARG, TLR4</it>, and <it>TNF </it>were examined for associations with emerging cardiovascular risk markers such as serum C-reactive protein, homocysteine, uric acid, and plasma fibrinogen. Linear regression models were performed using SAS-callable SUDAAN 9.0. The covariates included age, race/ethnicity, education, menopausal status, female hormone use, aspirin use, and lifestyle factors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In covariate-adjusted models, serum C-reactive protein concentrations were significantly (P value controlling for false-discovery rate ≤ 0.05) associated with polymorphisms in <it>CRP </it>(rs3093058, rs1205)<it>, MTHFR </it>(rs1801131)<it>, and ADRB3 </it>(rs4994). Serum homocysteine levels were significantly associated with <it>MTHFR </it>(rs1801133).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The significant associations between certain gene variants with concentration variations in serum C-reactive protein and homocysteine among adult women need to be confirmed in further genetic association studies.</p

Experimental Correlation of Combined Heat and Mass Transfer for NH 3 -H 2 0 falling film absorption

vection. The main conclusion from this study is that the negative concentration gradient of the surface tension is a trigger for inducement of Marangoni convection before the additive solubility, while the imbalance of the surface tension and the interfacial tension is a trigger after the solubility limit. Acknowledgment The authors thank Mr. K. Iizuka, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, for his experimental assistance. The authors acknowledge that this work has been partially funded by the Japan Science and Technology Corporation (JST). References Beutler, A., Greiter, I., Wagner, A., Hohhmann, L., Schreier, S., and Alefeld, G., 1996, &quot;Surfactants and Fluid Properties,&quot; Int. J. Refrigeration, Vol. 19, No. 5, pp. 342-346. Chavepeyer, G&quot; Salajan, M., Platten, J. K., and Smet, P., 1995, &quot;InterfacialTension and Surface Adsorption in j-Heptanol/Water Systems,&quot; Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Vol. 174, Daiguji, H,, Hihara, E., and Saito, T., 1997, &quot;Mechanism of Absorption Enhancement by Surfactant,&quot; Int. J. Heat and Mass Transfer, Vol. 40, No. 8, pp. 1743-1752. Fujita, T., 1993, &quot;Falling Liquid Films in Absorption Machines,&quot; Int. J. Refrigeration, Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 282-294. Hihara, E&quot; and Saito, T., 1993 Journal of Heat Transfer TL = temperature of the fluid far away from the plate t&apos; = time t R = reference time u = velocity of the fluid UD = reference velocity at&apos; = frequency X,, = distance of the transition point from the leading edge |3 = coefficient of volume expansion p = density e = amplitude (constant) 9 = nondimensional temperature u = nondimensional velocity i = y-i Introduction Transient laminar-free convection flow past an infinite vertical plate under different plate conditions was studied by many researchers. The first closed-form solutions for Prandtl number Pr = 1.0 in case of a step change in wall temperature with time was derived by Illingworth (1950) and for Pr # 1.0, he derived the solution in integral form. Siegel (1958) studied the unsteady freeconvection flow past a semi-infinite vertical plate under stepchange in wall temperature or surface heat flux by employing the momentum integral method. Experimental evidence for such a situation was presented by Goldstein and Eckert (1960). For a semi-infinite vertical plate, unsteady free-convection flow was studied analytically b