Karşıyaka Prevalance and Awareness of Hypertension Study (KARHIP)

Background: The study was planned to assess potential differences in hypertension prevalance and hypertension related demographic properties in an urban area with relatively higher income and cultural population compared to the national average. Methods: Fieldwork was done by educated and dedicated personnel at Karsiyaka Municipality Building by one by one interviewing poll, blood pressure measurement, rhythm and body composition analysis in February 2014. Hypertension was defined as an average systolic blood pressure ≥140 mmHg or an average diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mmHg. Results: Out of a total of 1417 (627 males and 790 females) people enrolled, 780 people were hypertensive (prevalence 55%). Hypertension prevalence in the middle age group (age 35-65) was 46% and in the geriatric age group (age>65) it was %79. 216 out of 780 hypertensive (27.7%) people were not aware of their disease. The proportion of people taking antihypertensive treatment was 69.4% and the proportion under control was 34.7%, whereas the control rate was 50.1% in 541 patients who were aware of their diseases. Conclusions: Hypertension prevalances in our study were similar to the PatenT 2 trial prevalances, which were 46 % for the middle age group and 78% for the geriatric age group. Compared to PatenT 2 data, the rate of hypertension awareness (54.7% vs 72.3%) and the rate of being under treatment (47.5% vs 69.4%) were higher. The rate of controlled hypertension was a little bit higher (28.7 % vs 34.7% ) in our group, whereas control rates in aware and treated groups were similar (53.9 % and 50.1 %) in both studies

Cardiac Functions and Peripheral Arterial Stiffness in Patients with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND/AIMS:Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients have been described as having subclinical cardiac and vascular damage; nevertheless, research data is contradictory. We aimed to assess global cardiac functions, peripheral arterial stiffness (AS), and the relationships between echocardiographic and AS measurements in patients with PCOS.MATERIALS AND METHODS:We enrolled 42 consecutive PCOS patients and 32 age- and body mass index (BMI)-matched healthy controls. All participants underwent a comprehensive two-dimensional echocardiographic examination. Applanation tonometry was utilized to determine peripheral AS [carotid-radial pulse wave velocity (PWV) and augmentation index (AIx)] in each participant. In addition, we evaluated the correlation between AS and echocardiographic parameters.RESULTS:The PCOS and control groups had similar ages and BMIs. Right ventricular (RV) and left ventricular (LV) diameters, LV mass, and LV ejection fraction were similar between the groups. Considering the pulse wave and tissue Doppler parameters of the cardiac functions, the LV septal S’, LV Tei index, RV S’, RV Tei index, and E/E’ ratio were comparable between the two groups. Peripheral AS parameters including, PWV and AIx were higher in those patients with PCOS [19.3±12.5 vs. 12.5±9.6; p=0.01 and 5 (4.7-5.5) vs. 4.4 (4.2-4.8); p=0.0001, respectively]. AS parameters were not correlated with echocardiographic parameters.CONCLUSION:Despite normal echocardiographic LV and RV functions, women with PCOS had increased AS. There was no correlation between echocardiographic and AS parameters in these patients.Keywords:&nbsp;Diastolic and systolic right ventricular functions, diastolic and systolic left ventricular functions, peripheral arterial stiffness, polycystic ovary syndrome</p

How we eat may be as important as what we eat: eating behaviour and heart rate variability

Objective Diet exerts a crucial role on cardiovascular health. Evidence is mainly based on the content and the amount of dietary intakes. Some recent reports demonstrated that eating behaviour may also be of significant importance in cardiovascular health. In this study we aimed to investigate the effects of eating behaviour on heart rate variability (HRV) in healthy subjects