Physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness and cardiovascular health : the cardiovascular risk in young Finns study

Background: High physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness may protect from the development of cardiometabolic disease outcomes but the mechanisms involved are not fully understood. Aims: The aims of this study were to examine the associations of physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness with traditional and novel cardiometabolic biomarkers, fatty liver and carotid artery elasticity and intima media thickness in a longitudinal population-based cohort study. Participants and methods: This thesis is part of the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. In 1980, 3,596 children and adolescents aged 3-18 years participated in the study. Self-reported leisure time physical activity including commuting activity was assessed by a questionnaire and blood samples were analyzed in 1986, 2001, 2007 and 2011. Carotid artery ultrasounds were examined in 2001 and 2007. A cardiopulmonary exercise test was undertaken in 2008-2009 and liver ultrasounds were performed in 2011. Results: Physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness were inversely associated with adiposity, heart rate, smoking, serum insulin, insulin resistance and Creactive protein levels in adults. Leisure-time physical activity in boys and young adults was associated with better carotid artery elasticity later in life. Cardiorespiratory fitness was inversely and independently related with the risk of fatty liver regardless of adiposity. Conclusions: Physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness are favorably and independently associated with several cardiometabolic risk markers. These observations offer novel mechanistic insights into the beneficial effects of high physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness on cardiometabolic disease outcomes.Liikunta, hengitys- ja verenkiertoelimistön kunto ja sydän- ja verisuoniterveys. Lasten Sepelvaltimotaudin Riskitekijät (LASERI) -tutkimus. Tausta: Runsas fyysinen aktiivisuus ja hyvä hengitys- ja verenkiertoelimistön kunto voivat suojella sydän- ja verisuonisairauksilta, mutta mekanismeja ei vielä täysin tunneta. Tavoitteet: Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli tutkia fyysisen aktiivisuuden ja hengitys- ja verenkiertoelimistön kunnon yhteyttä perinteisiin ja uusiin kardiometabolisiin riskitekijöihin, rasvamaksaan ja kaulasuonen venyvyyteen sekä seinämäpaksuuteen pitkittäisessä seurantatutkimuksessa. Menetelmät: Tämä väitöskirja on osa Lasten Sepelvaltimotaudin Riskitekijät –tutkimusta. Vuonna 1980 tutkimukseen osallistui 3596, iältään 3-18 vuotta lasta ja nuorta. Liikuntatottumukset selvitettiin kyselykaavakkeella ja verinäytteet analysoitiin vuosina 1986, 2001, 2007 ja 2011. Kaulavaltimoiden ultraäänitutkimukset tehtiin vuosina 2001 ja 2007. Kliininen rasituskoe hengityskaasumittauksin tehtiin vuosina 2008-2009. Maksan ultraäänikuvaukset tehtiin vuonna 2011. Tulokset: Fyysinen aktiivisuus oli käänteisesti yhteydessä lihavuusmuuttujiin, sydämen leposykkeeseen, tupakointiin, seerumin insuliinitasoon, insuliiniresistenssiin ja tulehdusmuuttujaan aikuisilla. Vapaa-ajan liikunta oli yhteydessä myöhemmin elämässä mitattuun parempaan kaulasuonen venyvyyteen pojilla ja nuorilla aikuisilla. Maksimaalinen hapenottokyky oli yhteydessä pienempään rasvamaksan riskiin lihavuudesta riippumatta. Päätelmät: Fyysinen aktiivisuus ja hengitys- ja verenkiertoelimistön kunto ovat itsenäisesti ja suotuisasti yhteydessä useisiin kardiometabolisiin riskitekijöihin. Nämä havainnot lisäävät mekanistista ymmärrystä fyysisen aktiivisuuden ja hengitys- ja verenkiertoelimistön kunnon suotuisista vaikutteista kardiometabolisiin sairauksiin

Association of lifetime blood pressure with adulthood exercise blood pressure response: the cardiovascular risk in young Finns study

PurposeElevated blood pressure (BP) in childhood has been associated with increased adulthood BP. However, BP and its change from childhood to adulthood and the risk of exaggerated adulthood exercise BP response are largely unknown. Therefore, we studied the association of childhood and adulthood BP with adulthood exercise BP response.Materials and methodsThis investigation consisted of 406 individuals participating in the ongoing Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study (baseline in 1980, at age of 6-18 years; follow-up in adulthood in 27-29 years since baseline). In childhood BP was classified as elevated according to the tables from the International Child Blood Pressure References Establishment Consortium, while in adulthood BP was considered elevated if systolic BP was >= 120 mmHg or diastolic BP was >= 80 mmHg or if use of antihypertensive medications was self-reported. A maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test with BP measurements was performed by participants in 2008-2009, and exercise BP was considered exaggerated (EEBP) if peak systolic blood pressure exceeded 210 mmHg in men and 190 mmHg in women.ResultsParticipants with consistently high BP from childhood to adulthood and individuals with normal childhood but high adulthood BP had an increased risk of EEBP response in adulthood (relative risk [95% confidence interval], 3.32 [2.05-5.40] and 3.03 [1.77-5.17], respectively) in comparison with individuals with normal BP both in childhood and adulthood. Interestingly, individuals with elevated BP in childhood but not in adulthood also had an increased risk of EEBP [relative risk [95% confidence interval], 2.17 [1.35-3.50]).ConclusionsThese findings reinforce the importance of achieving and sustaining normal blood pressure from childhood through adulthood.</p

Postcardiotomy Venoarterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Patients Aged 70 Years or Older

Background. There is uncertainty whether venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) should be used in older patients with cardiopulmonary failure after cardiac surgery.Methods. This was a retrospective multicenter study of 781 patients who required postcardiotomy VA-ECMO for cardiopulmonary failure after adult cardiac surgery from 2010 to 2018 at 19 cardiac surgery centers. A parallel systematic review with meta-analysis of the literature was performed.Results. The hospital mortality in the overall Post-cardiotomy Venoarterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (PC-ECMO) series was 64.4%. A total of 255 patients were 70 years old or older (32.7%), and their hospital mortality was significantly higher than in younger patients (76.1% vs 58.7%; adjusted odds ratio, 2.199; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.536 to 3.149). Arterial lactate level greater than 6 mmol/L before starting VA-ECMO was the only predictor of hospital mortality among patients 70 years old or older in univariate analysis (82.6% vs 70.4%; P = .029). Meta-analysis of current and previous studies showed that early mortality after postcardiotomy VA-ECMO was significantly higher in patients aged 70 years or older compared with younger patients (odds ratio, 2.09; 95% CI, 1.59 to 2.75; 5 studies including 1547 patients; I-2, 5.9%). The pooled early mortality rate among patients aged 70 years or older was 78.8% (95% CI, 74.1 to 83.5; 6 studies including 617 patients; I-2, 41.8%). Two studies reported 1-year mortality (including hospital mortality) of 79.9% and 75.6%, respectively, in patients 70 years old or older.Conclusions. Advanced age should not be considered a contraindication for postcardiotomy VA-ECMO. However, in view of the high risk of early mortality, meaningful scrutiny is needed before using VA-ECMO after cardiac surgery in older patients. (C) 2019 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeon

Determinants of exercise peak arterial blood pressure, circulatory power, and exercise cardiac power in a population based sample of Finnish male and female aged 30 to 47 years: the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study

Background Novel parameters derived from peak maximal oxygen uptake (VO2) and exercise arterial blood pressure, such as peak circulatory power (CP) and exercise cardiac power (ECP), can be used in the risk assessment of cardiovascular disease and stroke. However, the determinants of these factors are poorly characterized in the general population. Methods We assessed peak arterial blood pressure, CP and ECP with standardized cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) on 281 female and 257 male participants of the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. The subjects were aged 30–47 years. Peak VO2 as well as systolic and diastolic arterial blood pressures were measured to calculate peak mean arterial pressure, CP and ECP. These parameters were assessed for correlation with sex, age, height, weight, waist-to-hip ratio, smoking, physical activity index (PAI), fasting insulin and glucose levels as well as the use of antihypertensive treatment. Results Sex, age and weight explained 36% of the variation in peak systolic blood pressure, and these factors in combination with height and the use of antihypertensive treatment explained 13% of the variation in peak diastolic blood pressure. Sex, height, weight, waist-to-hip ratio, PAI and smoking explained 49% − 52% of the variation in peak CP. Sex, age, height, weight, waist-to-hip ratio, PAI, smoking and insulin levels explained 21% − 49% of variation in ECP. Conclusions Subject demographics and lifestyle-related factors should be taken into account when exercise blood pressure response, CP and ECP are used to evaluate patients’ cardiac function in CPET.BioMed Central open acces

Association of physical activity in childhood and early adulthood with carotid artery elasticity 21 years later: the cardiovascular risk in Young Finns Study

BACKGROUND: Decreased arterial elasticity is a risk factor for several cardiovascular outcomes. Longitudinal data on the effect of physical activity in youth on adult arterial elasticity are limited. The aim of this study was to determine the long-term effects of physical activity in children and young adults on carotid artery elasticity after 21 years of follow-up. METHODS AND RESULTS: Participants were 1417 children (aged 9 to 15 years) and 999 young adults (aged 18 to 24 years) from the prospective Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. Participants had questionnaire measures of leisure-time physical activity available from 1986 and ultrasound-derived indices of carotid artery elasticity measured in 2007. Carotid artery elasticity indices were distensibility (%/10 mm Hg), Young's elastic modulus (kPa), and stiffness index (unitless). Physical activity at age 18 to 24 years was directly associated with distensibility (β=0.068, P=0.014) and inversely with Young's elastic modulus (β=-0.057, P=0.0037) and indirectly with stiffness index (β=-0.050, P=0.0028) 21 years later in males and females. The associations remained after adjustment for age, sex, body mass index, smoking, systolic blood pressure, serum lipids and insulin, and 21-year change in physical activity. At age 9 to 15 years, the favorable association, remaining after adjustment, was found in males (distensibility [β=0.097, P=0.010], Young's elastic modulus [β=-0.060, P=0.028], and stiffness index [β=-0.062, P=0.007]) but not in females (P=0.70, P=0.85, and P=0.91, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Leisure-time physical activity in boys and young adults is associated with carotid artery elasticity later in life, suggesting that higher levels of physical activity in youth may benefit future cardiovascular health

Association of Physical Activity in Childhood and Early Adulthood With Carotid Artery Elasticity 21 Years Later: The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study

BACKGROUND: Decreased arterial elasticity is a risk factor for several cardiovascular outcomes. Longitudinal data on the effect of physical activity in youth on adult arterial elasticity are limited. The aim of this study was to determine the long-term effects of physical activity in children and young adults on carotid artery elasticity after 21 years of follow-up. METHODS AND RESULTS: Participants were 1417 children (aged 9 to 15 years) and 999 young adults (aged 18 to 24 years) from the prospective Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. Participants had questionnaire measures of leisure-time physical activity available from 1986 and ultrasound-derived indices of carotid artery elasticity measured in 2007. Carotid artery elasticity indices were distensibility (%/10 mm Hg), Young's elastic modulus (kPa), and stiffness index (unitless). Physical activity at age 18 to 24 years was directly associated with distensibility (β=0.068, P=0.014) and inversely with Young's elastic modulus (β=-0.057, P=0.0037) and indirectly with stiffness index (β=-0.050, P=0.0028) 21 years later in males and females. The associations remained after adjustment for age, sex, body mass index, smoking, systolic blood pressure, serum lipids and insulin, and 21-year change in physical activity. At age 9 to 15 years, the favorable association, remaining after adjustment, was found in males (distensibility [β=0.097, P=0.010], Young's elastic modulus [β=-0.060, P=0.028], and stiffness index [β=-0.062, P=0.007]) but not in females (P=0.70, P=0.85, and P=0.91, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Leisure-time physical activity in boys and young adults is associated with carotid artery elasticity later in life, suggesting that higher levels of physical activity in youth may benefit future cardiovascular health

Association of lifetime blood pressure with adulthood exercise blood pressure response : the cardiovascular risk in young Finns study

Purpose: Elevated blood pressure (BP) in childhood has been associated with increased adulthood BP. However, BP and its change from childhood to adulthood and the risk of exaggerated adulthood exercise BP response are largely unknown. Therefore, we studied the association of childhood and adulthood BP with adulthood exercise BP response. Materials and methods: This investigation consisted of 406 individuals participating in the ongoing Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study (baseline in 1980, at age of 6–18 years; follow-up in adulthood in 27–29 years since baseline). In childhood BP was classified as elevated according to the tables from the International Child Blood Pressure References Establishment Consortium, while in adulthood BP was considered elevated if systolic BP was ≥120 mmHg or diastolic BP was ≥80 mmHg or if use of antihypertensive medications was self-reported. A maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test with BP measurements was performed by participants in 2008–2009, and exercise BP was considered exaggerated (EEBP) if peak systolic blood pressure exceeded 210 mmHg in men and 190 mmHg in women. Results: Participants with consistently high BP from childhood to adulthood and individuals with normal childhood but high adulthood BP had an increased risk of EEBP response in adulthood (relative risk [95% confidence interval], 3.32 [2.05–5.40] and 3.03 [1.77–5.17], respectively) in comparison with individuals with normal BP both in childhood and adulthood. Interestingly, individuals with elevated BP in childhood but not in adulthood also had an increased risk of EEBP [relative risk [95% confidence interval], 2.17 [1.35–3.50]). Conclusions: These findings reinforce the importance of achieving and sustaining normal blood pressure from childhood through adulthood.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Pulse wave velocity is related to exercise blood pressure response in young adults. The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study

Purpose: High pulse wave velocity (PWV), a marker of increased arterial stiffness, and an exaggerated exercise blood pressure (EEBP) response during an exercise test have both been related to an increased risk of hypertension and cardiovascular events. Contradictory results have been published about the association between these two parameters, and their relation in healthy young adults is unknown. Materials and methods: This study consisted of 209 young adults (mean age 38 years) who participated in the ongoing Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study between 2007 and 2009. We measured resting PWV with impedance cardiography in 2007, and participants performed a maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test with blood pressure (BP) measurements at rest, during exercise and during recovery in 2008–2009. Results: High PWV (≥age- and sex-specific median) at baseline was associated with EEBP (SBP >210 mmHg for men and >190 mmHg for women) an average of 14 months later and with systolic BP during different stages of exercise from rest to peak and recovery (during peak exercise, β ± SE was 4.1 ± 1.1, p < 0.001). The association between high PWV and systolic BP remained after adjustment for traditional cardiovascular risk factors and other exercise parameters (during peak exercise, β ± SE was 2.3 ± 1.1, p = 0.04). Conclusions: Increased arterial stiffness predicts EEBP during a maximal exercise test in young adults during all stages of exercise from rest to peak and recovery. PWV could provide an additional tool for EEBP risk evaluation

Physical inactivity from youth to adulthood and adult cardiometabolic risk profile

Adults with a low physical activity (PA) level are at increased risk for cardiometabolic diseases, but little is known on the association between physical inactivity since youth and cardiometabolic health in adulthood. We investigated the association of persistent physical inactivity from youth to adulthood with adult cardiometabolic risk factors. Data were drawn from the ongoing Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study with seven follow-ups between 1980 and 2011 (baseline age 3–18 years, n = 1961). Physical activity data from a standardized questionnaire was expressed as a PA-index. Using the PA-index, four groups were formed: 1)persistently physically inactive (n = 246), 2)decreasingly active (n = 305), 3)increasingly active (n = 328), and 4)persistently active individuals (n = 1082). Adulthood cardiometabolic risk indicators included waist circumference, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, and fasting lipids, insulin, and glucose. Clustered cardiometabolic risk was defined using established criteria for metabolic syndrome. Persistently physically inactive group was used as a reference. Compared to the persistently physically inactive group, those who were persistently active had lower risk for adult clustered cardiometabolic risk (RR = 0.67;CI95% = 0.53–0.84; Harmonized criteria), obesity (BMI > 30 kg/m2, RR = 0.76;CI95% = 0.59–0.98), high waist circumference (RR = 0.82;CI95% = 0.69–0.98), and high triglyceride (RR = 0.60;CI95% = 0.47–0.75), insulin (RR = 0.58;CI95% = 0.46–0.74) and glucose (RR = 0.77;CI95% = 0.62–0.96) concentrations as well as low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLsingle bondC) concentration (RR = 0.78;CI95% = 0.66–0.93). Comparable results were found when persistently physically inactive individuals were compared with those who increased PA. The results remained essentially similar after adjustment for education, diet, smoking, and BMI. Persistently physically inactive lifestyle since youth is associated with an unfavorable cardiometabolic risk profile in adulthood. Importantly, even minor increase in PA lowers the cardiometabolic risk.peerReviewe

Multicenter study on postcardiotomy venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify the risk factors associated with early mortality after postcardiotomy venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Methods: This is an analysis of the postcardiotomy extracorporeal membrane oxygenation registry, a retrospective multicenter cohort study including 781 patients aged more than 18 years who required venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for cardiopulmonary failure after cardiac surgery from 2010 to 2018 at 19 cardiac surgery centers. Results: After a mean venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy of 6.9 ± 6.2 days, hospital and 1-year mortality were 64.4% and 67.2%, respectively. Hospital mortality after venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy for more than 7 days was 60.5% (P = .105). Centers that had treated more than 50 patients with postcardiotomy venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation had a significantly lower hospital mortality than lower-volume centers (60.7% vs 70.7%, adjusted odds ratio, 0.58; 95% confidence interval, 0.41-0.82). The postcardiotomy extracorporeal membrane oxygenation score was derived by assigning a weighted integer to each independent pre–venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation predictors of hospital mortality as follows: female gender (1 point), advanced age (60-69 years, 2 points; ≥70 years, 4 points), prior cardiac surgery (1 point), arterial lactate 6.0 mmol/L or greater before venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (2 points), aortic arch surgery (4 points), and preoperative stroke/unconsciousness (5 points). The hospital mortality rates according to the postcardiotomy extracorporeal membrane oxygenation score was 0 point, 45.6%; 1 point, 40.5%; 2 points, 51.1%; 3 points, 57.8%; 4 points, 70.7%; 5 points, 68.3%; 6 points, 77.5%; and 7 points or more, 89.7% (P < .0001). Conclusions: Age, female gender, prior cardiac surgery, preoperative acute neurologic events, aortic arch surgery, and increased arterial lactate were associated with increased risk of early mortality after postcardiotomy venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Center experience with postcardiotomy venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation may contribute to improved results