Independent and joint associations of grip strength and adiposity with all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality in 403,199 adults: the UK Biobank study.

Background: Higher grip strength (GS) is associated with lower mortality risk. However, whether this association is independent of adiposity is uncertain.Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between GS, adiposity, and mortality.Design: The UK Biobank study is an ongoing prospective cohort of >0.5 million UK adults aged 40-69 y. Baseline data collection (2006-2010) included measurements of GS and adiposity indicators, including body mass index (BMI; in kg/m2). Age- and sex-specific GS quintiles were used. BMI was classified according to clinical cutoffs.Results: Data from 403,199 participants were included in analyses. Over a median 7.0-y of follow-up, 8287 all-cause deaths occurred. The highest GS quintile had 32% (95% CI: 26%, 38%) and 25% (95% CI: 16%, 33%) lower all-cause mortality risks for men and women, respectively, compared with the lowest GS quintile, after adjustment for confounders and BMI. Obesity class II (BMI ≥35) was associated with a greater all-cause mortality risk. The highest GS quintile and obesity class II category showed relatively higher all-cause mortality hazards (not statistically significant in men) than the highest GS quintile and the normal weight category; however, the increased risk was relatively lower than the risk for the lowest GS quintile and obesity class II category. All-cause mortality risks were generally lower for obese but stronger individuals than for nonobese but weaker individuals. Similar patterns of associations were observed for cardiovascular mortality.Conclusions: Lower grip strength and excess adiposity are both independent predictors of higher mortality risk. The higher mortality risk associated with excess adiposity is attenuated, although not completely attenuated, by greater GS. Interventions and policies should focus on improving the muscular strength of the population regardless of their degree of adiposity

Specific physical activities, sedentary behaviours and sleep as long-term predictors of accelerometer-measured physical activity in 91,648 adults: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The evidence for the prospective relationships between specific physical activities (PA), sedentary behaviours (SB) and sleep on subsequent total PA levels is scarce. The purpose of this study was to examine prospective associations of self-reported PA, SB and sleep, and changes in these with subsequent accelerometer-measured PA. METHODS: A sub-sample of 91,648 UK Biobank participants reported moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), lifestyle activities, TV viewing, computer use and sleep through screen-based questionnaires at baseline (2006-2010), and provided valid accelerometry data (dominant wrist-worn for 7 days between 2013 and 2015). A further sub-sample of 7709 participants repeated the screen-based questionnaires between 2012 and 2013. RESULTS: In both women (n = 51,545) and men (n = 40,103), positive associations were observed between all self-reported measures of PA at baseline (MVPA, lifestyle/job-related activities, active transporting modes) and accelerometer-measured PA levels at follow-up (median 5.7 years); an exception was 'walking/standing at work' in women. Sedentary time at work, TV viewing and computer use were inversely associated with PA at follow-up. Sleeping either more or less than 7 h/day at baseline was associated with lower PA at follow-up (except for ≤6 h/day in men). In the repeat self-report sub-sample (median 4.3 years), relatively higher physical activity at follow-up was observed in those who maintained or achieved favourable levels of MVPA, walking for pleasure, strenuous sports, other exercises, heavy DIY (in women), heavy physical work, and walking/standing at work (in women), sedentary time at work, getting about methods (in women), commuting methods (in women), TV viewing, computer use or sleep. CONCLUSIONS: Initial levels of PA, SB and sleep, and changes in these variables were generally associated with subsequent accelerometer-measured PA in the expected directions, suggesting these specific behaviours all contribute to the total volume of physical activity over time and could thus be targets for intervention.This work was supported by the UK Medical Research Council [MC_UU_12015/1 and MC_UU_12015/3], the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre Cambridge [IS-BRC-1215-20014], an Intermediate Basic Science Research Fellowship of British Heart Foundation (FS/12/58/29709 to KW), and a PhD studentship from MedImmune (to TW)

The combination of cardiorespiratory fitness and muscle strength, and mortality risk.

Little is known about the combined associations of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and hand grip strength (GS) with mortality in general adult populations. The purpose of this study was to compare the relative risk of mortality for CRF, GS, and their combination. In UK Biobank, a prospective cohort of > 0.5 million adults aged 40-69 years, CRF was measured through submaximal bike tests; GS was measured using a hand-dynamometer. This analysis is based on data from 70,913 men and women (832 all-cause, 177 cardiovascular and 503 cancer deaths over 5.7-year follow-up) who provided valid CRF and GS data, and with no history of heart attack/stroke/cancer at baseline. Compared with the lowest CRF category, the hazard ratio (HR) for all-cause mortality was 0.76 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.64-0.89] and 0.65 (95% CI 0.55-0.78) for the middle and highest CRF categories, respectively, after adjustment for confounders and GS. The highest GS category had an HR of 0.79 (95% CI 0.66-0.95) for all-cause mortality compared with the lowest, after adjustment for confounders and CRF. Similar results were found for cardiovascular and cancer mortality. The HRs for the combination of highest CRF and GS were 0.53 (95% CI 0.39-0.72) for all-cause mortality and 0.31 (95% CI 0.14-0.67) for cardiovascular mortality, compared with the reference category of lowest CRF and GS: no significant association for cancer mortality (HR 0.70; 95% CI 0.48-1.02). CRF and GS are both independent predictors of mortality. Improving both CRF and muscle strength, as opposed to either of the two alone, may be the most effective behavioral strategy to reduce all-cause and cardiovascular mortality risk

Face Validity of Observed Meal Patterns Reported with 7-Day Diet Diaries in a Large Population-Based Cohort Using Diurnal Variation in Concentration Biomarkers of Dietary Intake.

In a cross-sectional analysis of a population-based cohort (United Kingdom, N = 21,318, 1993-1998), we studied how associations between meal patterns and non-fasting triglyceride and glucose concentrations were influenced by the hour of day at which the blood sample was collected to ascertain face validity of reported meal patterns, as well as the influence of reporting bias (assessed using formula of energy expenditure) on this association. Meal size (i.e., reported energy content), mealtime and meal frequency were reported using pre-structured 7-day diet diaries. In ANCOVA, sex-specific means of biomarker concentrations were calculated by hour of blood sample collection for quartiles of reported energy intake at breakfast, lunch and dinner (meal size). Significant interactions were observed between breakfast size, sampling time and triglyceride concentrations and between lunch size, sampling time and triglyceride, as well as glucose concentrations. Those skipping breakfast had the lowest triglyceride concentrations in the morning and those skipping lunch had the lowest triglyceride and glucose concentrations in the afternoon, especially among acceptable energy reporters. Eating and drinking occasion frequency was weakly associated with glucose concentrations in women and positively associated with triglyceride concentrations in both sexes; stronger associations were observed for larger vs. smaller meals and among acceptable energy reporters. Associations between meal patterns and concentration biomarkers can be observed when accounting for diurnal variation and underreporting. These findings support the use of 7-day diet diaries for studying associations between meal patterns and health

Correlates of change in accelerometer-assessed total sedentary time and prolonged sedentary bouts among older English adults: results from five-year follow-up in the EPIC-Norfolk cohort.

BACKGROUND: Development of effective strategies to reduce sedentary time among older adults necessitates understanding of its determinants but longitudinal studies of this utilising objective measures are scarce. METHODS: Among 1536 older adults (≥60 years) in the EPIC-Norfolk study, sedentary time was assessed for seven days at two time-points using accelerometers. We assessed associations of change in total and prolonged bouts of sedentary time (≥ 30 minutes) with change in demographic and behavioural factors using multi-level regression. RESULTS: Over follow-up (5.3±1.9 years), greater increases in total sedentary time were associated with older age, being male, higher rate of increase in BMI, lower rate of increase in gardening (0.5 min/day/yr greater sedentary time per hour/week/yr less gardening, 95% CI 0.1, 1.0), a lower rate of increase in walking (0.2 min/day/yr greater sedentary time per hour/week/yr less walking, 95% CI 0.1, 0.3) and a higher rate of increase in television viewing. Correlates of change in prolonged sedentary bouts were similar. CONCLUSION: Individuals in specific sub-groups (older, male, higher BMI) and who differentially participate in certain behaviours (less gardening, less walking and more television viewing) but not others increase their sedentary time at a higher rate than others; utilising this information could inform successful intervention content and targeting.The EPIC-Norfolk study (DOI 10.22025/2019.10. 105.00004) has received funding from the Medical Research Council (MR/N003284/1 and MC-UU_12015/ 1) and Cancer Research UK (C864/A14136). DY was www.aging-us.com 10 AGING funded by a National Institute for Health Research Doctoral Fellowship (DRF-2017-10-121). SH was supported by the Lifelong Health and Wellbeing CrossCouncil Programme, the Medical Research Council (MC_UU_12015/4), and Canadian Institutes of Health Research (FRN 146766). KWi and SB were supported by the Medical Research Council (MC_UU_12015/3) and NJW by MC_UU_12015/1). KWe was supported by the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (IS-BRC-1215–20014). SJG and NJW are NIHR Senior Investigators. The University of Cambridge has received salary support in respect of SJG from the NHS in the Eas

Cardiovascular risk factors associated with polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis in a prospective cohort: EPIC-Norfolk Study.

OBJECTIVES: PMR and GCA are associated with increased risk of vascular disease. However, it remains unclear whether this relationship is causal or reflects a common underlying propensity. The aim of this study was to identify whether known cardiovascular risk factors increase the risk of PMR and GCA. METHODS: Clinical records were examined using key word searches to identify cases of PMR and GCA, applying current classification criteria in a population-based cohort. Associations between cardiovascular risk factors and incident PMR and GCA were analysed using Cox proportional hazards. RESULTS: In 315 022 person years of follow-up, there were 395 incident diagnoses of PMR and 118 incident diagnoses of GCA that met the clinical definition. Raised diastolic blood pressure (>90 mmHg) at baseline/recruitment was associated with subsequent incident PMR [hazard ratio=1.35 (95% CI 1.01, 1.80) P=0.045], and ever-smoking was associated with incident GCA [hazard ratio=2.01 (95% CI 1.26, 3.20) P=0.003]. Estimates were similar when the analysis was restricted to individuals whose diagnoses satisfied the current classification criteria sets. CONCLUSION: PMR and GCA shares common risk factors with vascular disease onset, suggesting a common underlying propensity. This may indicate a potential for disease prevention strategies through modifying cardiovascular risk

The association of cycling with all-cause, cardiovascular and cancer mortality: findings from the population-based EPIC-Norfolk cohort.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate associations between modest levels of total and domain-specific (commuting, other utility, recreational) cycling and mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. DESIGN: Population-based cohort study (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study-Norfolk). SETTING: Participants were recruited from general practices in the east of England and attended health examinations between 1993 and 1997 and again between 1998 and 2000. At the first health assessment, participants reported their average weekly duration of cycling for all purposes using a simple measure of physical activity. At the second health assessment, participants reported a more detailed breakdown of their weekly cycling behaviour using the EPAQ2 physical activity questionnaire. PARTICIPANTS: Adults aged 40-79 years at the first health assessment. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE: All participants were followed for mortality (all-cause, cardiovascular and cancer) until March 2011. RESULTS: There were 22 450 participants with complete data at the first health assessment, of whom 4398 died during follow-up; and 13 346 participants with complete data at the second health assessment, of whom 1670 died during follow-up. Preliminary analyses using exposure data from the first health assessment showed that cycling for at least 60 min/week in total was associated with a 9% reduced risk of all-cause mortality (adjusted HR 0.91, 95% CI 0.84 to 0.99). Using the more precise measures of cycling available from the second health assessment, all types of cycling were associated with greater total moderate-to-vigorous physical activity; however, there was little evidence of an association between overall or domain-specific cycling and mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Cycling, in particular for utility purposes, was associated with greater moderate-to-vigorous and total physical activity. While this study provides tentative evidence that modest levels of cycling may reduce the risk of mortality, further research is required to confirm how much cycling is sufficient to induce health benefits

The relationship between dietary magnesium intake, stroke and its major risk factors, blood pressure and cholesterol, in the EPIC-Norfolk cohort.

BACKGROUND: Dietary magnesium could modify the major stroke risk factors, high blood pressure (BP) and cholesterol, but has been understudied in both sexes in a single population. This study aimed to investigate if dietary magnesium intake was associated with BP, total cholesterol (TC) and incident stroke risk in an adult population. METHODS: We conducted cross-sectional analyses in a case-cohort study of 4443, men and women aged 40-75, representative of 25,639 participants years of the EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer)-Norfolk cohort. The cohort included 928 stroke cases (42,556.5 person years). Dietary data from 7 day food diaries were analysed using multivariate regression to assess associations between quintiles or data-derived categories of dietary magnesium intake and BP, TC and stroke risk, adjusted for relevant confounders. RESULTS: We observed differences of -7 mmHg systolic BP (P trend ≤ 0.01) and -3.8 mmHg diastolic BP (P trend=0.01) between extreme intakes of magnesium in men, a significant inverse association with TC was observed (P trend=0.02 men and 0.04 women). Compared to the bottom 10%, the top 30% of magnesium intake was associated with a 41% relative reduction in stroke risk (HR 0.59; 95% CI 0.38-0.93) in men. CONCLUSIONS: Lower dietary magnesium intake was associated with higher BP and stroke risk, which may have implications for primary prevention.This study is supported by a University of East Anglia FMH studentship and, in Cambridge, by programme grants from the Medical Research Council UKG0401527 and Cancer Research UK (C864/A2883, C864/A8257).This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016752731501270X

Topical Beta-Blockers and Cardiovascular Mortality: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis with Data from the EPIC-Norfolk Cohort Study.

PURPOSE: To determine if topical beta-blocker use is associated with increased cardiovascular mortality, particularly among people with self-reported glaucoma. METHODS: All participants who participated in the first health check (N = 25,639) of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC) Norfolk cohort (1993-2013) were included in this prospective cohort study, with a median follow-up of 17.0 years. We determined use of topical beta-blockers at baseline through a self-reported questionnaire and prescription check at the first clinical visit. Cardiovascular mortality was ascertained through data linkage with the Office for National Statistics mortality database. Hazard ratios (HRs) were estimated using multivariable Cox regression models. Meta-analysis of the present study's results together with other identified literature was performed using a random effects model. RESULTS: We did not find an association between the use of topical beta-blockers and cardiovascular mortality (HR 0.93, 95% confidence interval, CI, 0.67-1.30). In the 514 participants with self-reported glaucoma, no association was found between the use of topical beta-blockers and cardiovascular mortality (HR 0.89, 95% CI 0.56-1.40). In the primary meta-analysis of four publications, there was no evidence of an association between the use of topical beta-blockers and cardiovascular mortality (pooled HR estimate 1.10, 95% CI 0.84-1.36). CONCLUSION: Topical beta-blockers do not appear to be associated with excess cardiovascular mortality. This evidence does not indicate that a change in current practice is warranted, although clinicians should continue to assess individual patients and their cardiovascular risk prior to commencing topical beta-blockers.EPIC-Norfolk infrastructure and core functions are supported by grants from the Medical Research Council (G1000143) and Cancer Research UK (C864/A14136). The clinic for the third health examination was funded by Age UK Research into Ageing (262). Mr Khawaja is a Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Fellow. Mr Foster has received additional support from the Richard Desmond Charitable Trust (via Fight for Sight) and the Department for Health through the award made by the National Institute for Health Research to Moorfields Eye Hospital and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology for a specialist Biomedical Research Centre for Ophthalmology.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Taylor & Francis via http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09286586.2016.1213301

A 3-SNP gene risk score and a metabolic risk score both predict hypertriglyceridemia and cardiovascular disease risk.

BACKGROUND: Evidence on the causal link between plasma triglyceride (TG) levels and risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) has recently emerged. Individuals with the metabolic syndrome have an increased risk for acquiring elevated TG levels later in life. Moreover, common DNA sequence variations in genes affecting TG levels identify individuals at risk for elevated plasma TG levels. OBJECTIVE: We evaluated whether a 3-single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) TG gene risk score (GRS) and a metabolic risk score (MetRS) both improved CVD risk prediction. METHODS: A 3-SNP GRS and MetRS were generated in the EPIC-Norfolk cohort (n = 20,074) based on 3 SNPs in LPL and APOA5 or the number of Metabolic Syndrome criteria present (maximum 5), respectively. The associations between the 3-SNP GRS, MetRS, TG levels, and CVD risk were evaluated. RESULTS: The 3-SNP GRS and MetRS were both linearly associated with plasma TG levels, that is, +0.25 mmol/L [95% CI 0.22-0.27] per allele change (P < .001) and +0.72 mmol/L [95% CI 0.70-0.73] per increase of number of metabolic syndrome risk score points (P < .001), respectively. We observed a positive association between the 3-SNP GRS and the risk of CVD with an adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 1.35 [95% CI 1.04-1.74] for the highest versus the lowest GRS, which was independent of the MetRS. For the MetRS, the adjusted HR was 2.03 [95% CI 1.73-2.40] for the highest versus the lowest MetRS. CONCLUSION: Both the 3-SNP GRS and the MetRS are associated with increased plasma TG levels and increased risk for CVD