scholarly journals Structural analysis of retinal blood vessels in patients with COPD during a pulmonary rehabilitation program

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anouk W. Vaes ◽  
Martijn A. Spruit ◽  
Karel Van Keer ◽  
João Barbosa-Breda ◽  
Emiel F. M. Wouters ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Lung Function ◽  
Systolic Blood Pressure ◽  
Systemic Inflammation ◽  
Pulmonary Rehabilitation ◽  
Functional Outcomes ◽  
Retinal Vessel ◽  
Copd Patients ◽  
Retinal Vessel Diameters

AbstractCardiovascular diseases are frequently present in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Population-based studies found associations between retinal vessel diameters and cardiovascular health, but it is unknown whether this also applies to COPD patients. Therefore, we measured retinal vessel diameters in COPD patients and aimed to determine the association with cardiovascular risk factors, lung function, and functional outcomes. In addition, we investigated whether an exercise-based pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) program would change retinal vessel diameters, as a proxy for improved microvascular health. Demographics and clinical characteristics, including pulmonary function, exercise capacity, blood pressure, blood measurements and level of systemic inflammation were obtained from 246 patients during routine assessment before and after PR. Retinal vessel diameters were measured from digital retinal images. Older age and higher systolic blood pressure were associated with narrower retinal arterioles (β: −0.224; p = 0.042 and β: −0.136; p < 0.001, respectively). Older age, higher systolic blood pressure and lower level of systemic inflammation were associated with narrower retinal venules (β: −0.654; −0.229; and −13.767, respectively; p < 0.05). No associations were found between retinal vessel diameters and lung function parameters or functional outcomes. After PR, no significant changes in retinal venular or arteriolar diameter were found. To conclude, retinal vessel diameters of COPD patients were significantly associated with systolic blood pressure and systemic inflammation, whilst there was no evidence for an association with lung function parameters, functional outcomes or other cardiovascular risk factors. Furthermore, an exercise-based PR program did not affect retinal vessel diameter.

Long-term effects (>24 months) of multiple lifestyle intervention on major cardiovascular risk factors among high risk subjects: a meta-analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
H Bergum ◽  
I Sandven ◽  
TO Klemsdal
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Cardiovascular Risk ◽  
Systolic Blood Pressure ◽  
Total Cholesterol ◽  
Cardiovascular Risk Factors ◽  
Lifestyle Intervention ◽  
Small Study ◽  
Long Term Effects

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – National budget only. Main funding source(s): The Norwegian health department Background The evidence of the long-term effects of multiple lifestyle intervention on cardiovascular risk is uncertain. We aimed to summarize the evidence from randomized clinical trials examining the efficacy of lifestyle intervention on major cardiovascular risk factors in subjects at high cardiovascular risk. Methods  Eligible trials investigated the impact of lifestyle intervention versus usual care with minimum 24 months follow-up, reporting more than one major cardiovascular risk factor. A literature search updated April 15, 2020 identified 12 eligible studies. The results from individual trials were combined using fixed and random effect models, using the standardized mean difference (SMD) to estimate effect sizes. Small-study effect was evaluated, and heterogeneity between studies examined by subgroup and meta-regression analyses considering patient- and study-level variables. Results  Small-study effect was not identified. Lifestyle intervention reduced systolic blood pressure modestly with an estimated SMD of -0.13, 95% confidence interval (CI): -0.21 to -0.04, with moderate heterogeneity (I² = 59%), corresponding to a mean difference of approximately 2 mmHg (MD = -1.86, 95% CI: -3.14 to -0.57, p = 0.0046). This effect disappeared in the subgroup of trials judged at low risk of bias (SMD = 0.02, 95% CI: -0.08 to 0.11). For the outcome total cholesterol SMD was -0.06, 95% CI: -0.13 to 0.00, with no heterogeneity (I² = 0%), indicating no effect of the intervention. Conclusion  Lifestyle intervention resulted in only a modest effect on systolic blood pressure and no effect on total cholesterol after 24 months. Further lifestyle trials should consider the challenge of maintaining larger long-term benefits to ensure impact on cardiovascular outcomes.

scholarly journals Effects of Cranberry Juice Supplementation on Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Adults with Elevated Blood Pressure: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 2618
Author(s):  
Chesney K. Richter ◽  
Ann C. Skulas-Ray ◽  
Trent L. Gaugler ◽  
Stacey Meily ◽  
Kristina S. Petersen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
Systolic Blood Pressure ◽  
Vascular Function ◽  
Elevated Blood Pressure ◽  
Elevated Blood ◽  
Lipoprotein Profile ◽  
Cranberry Juice ◽  
Central Systolic Blood Pressure

Emerging cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, including central vascular function and HDL efflux, may be modifiable with food-based interventions such as cranberry juice. A randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover trial was conducted in middle-aged adults with overweight/obesity (n = 40; mean BMI: 28.7 ± 0.8 kg/m2; mean age: 47 ± 2 years) and elevated brachial blood pressure (mean systolic/diastolic BP: 124 ± 2/81 ± 1 mm Hg). Study participants consumed 500 mL/d of cranberry juice (~16 fl oz; 27% cranberry juice) or a matched placebo juice in a randomized order (8-week supplementation periods; 8-week compliance break), with blood samples and vascular measurements obtained at study entry and following each supplementation period. There was no significant treatment effect of cranberry juice supplementation on the primary endpoint of central systolic blood pressure or central or brachial diastolic pressure. Cranberry juice significantly reduced 24-h diastolic ambulatory BP by ~2 mm Hg compared to the placebo (p = 0.05) during daytime hours. Cranberry juice supplementation did not alter LDL-C but significantly changed the composition of the lipoprotein profile compared to the placebo, increasing the concentration of large LDL-C particles (+29.5 vs. −6.7 nmol/L; p = 0.02) and LDL size (+0.073 vs. −0.068 nm; p = 0.001). There was no effect of treatment on ex vivo HDL efflux in the total population, but exploratory subgroup analyses identified an interaction between BMI and global HDL efflux (p = 0.02), with greater effect of cranberry juice in participants who were overweight. Exploratory analyses indicate that baseline C-reactive protein (CRP) values may moderate treatment effects. In this population of adults with elevated blood pressure, cranberry juice supplementation had no significant effect on central systolic blood pressure but did have modest effects on 24-hr diastolic ambulatory BP and the lipoprotein profile. Future studies are needed to verify these findings and the results of our exploratory analyses related to baseline health moderators.

Abstract P052: Circulating Natural Killer Cells and Subclinical Cardiovascular Disease in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA)

Circulation ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 137 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy S Jenny ◽  
Nels C Olson ◽  
Alicia M Ellis ◽  
Margaret F Doyle ◽  
Sally A Huber ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Confidence Interval ◽  
Systolic Blood Pressure ◽  
Nk Cells ◽  
Nk Cell ◽  
Agatston Score ◽  
Cvd Risk Factors ◽  
Cvd Risk ◽  
Race Ethnicity

Introduction: Clinically, natural killer (NK) cells are important in inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. As part of innate immunity, NK cells produce chemokines and inflammatory cytokines, potentially linking them to cardiovascular disease (CVD) development and progression as well. However, their role in human CVD is not clear. Hypothesis: NK cells are proatherogenic in humans and are associated with CVD risk factors and subclinical CVD measures. Methods: We examined cross-sectional associations of circulating NK cell levels with CVD risk factors, subclinical CVD measures and coronary artery calcium (CAC) in 891 White, Black, Chinese and Hispanic men and women (mean age 66 y) in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) at Exam 4 (2005-07). NK cell percent, percent of circulating lymphocytes that were CD3 - CD56 + CD16 + , was measured in whole blood by flow cytometry. CAC presence was defined as Agatston score > 0. Results: Mean (standard deviation) NK percent differed by race/ethnicity; 8.2% (4.7) in Whites, 11.3% (7.5) in Chinese (p<0.001 compared to Whites), 7.1 (4.2) in Blacks (p=0.007) and 8.4 (5.2) in Hispanics (p=0.6). NK cell percent was positively associated with age (p<0.001) and systolic blood pressure (P=0.003) in the full group. However, NK cell percent was lower in current smokers than in never smokers (p=0.002). Adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, smoking, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, diabetes and dyslipidemia, NK cell percent was negatively associated with common carotid intima media thickness (IMT; β coefficient -0.01; 95% confidence interval -0.03, -0.003) but was not associated with internal carotid IMT (-0.002; -0.037, 0.033). Likewise, NK cell percent was not associated with the presence of CAC (compared those with no detectable CAC; relative risk 1.02; 95% confidence interval 0.96, 1.08) or continuous Agatston score in those with a positive score (β coefficient 0.16, 95% confidence interval -0.003, 0.32) in the full group (models adjusted as above). Results were similar across race/ethnic groups. Conclusions: Of clinical interest, CD3 - CD56 + CD16 + NK cell percent varied significantly by race/ethnicity in these men and women from MESA. However, NK cell percent was inconsistently associated with CVD risk factors; positively with age and systolic blood pressure, and negatively with smoking. NK cell percent was also negatively associated with common carotid IMT. Larger sample sizes and longitudinal analyses will be required to clarify the potential relationship between NK cells and atherosclerosis in humans.

scholarly journals Workload-indexed blood pressure response is superior to peak systolic blood pressure in predicting all-cause mortality

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (9) ◽  
pp. 978-987 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristofer Hedman ◽  
Nicholas Cauwenberghs ◽  
Jeffrey W Christle ◽  
Tatiana Kuznetsova ◽  
Francois Haddad ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Systolic Blood Pressure ◽  
Exercise Testing ◽  
Lower Risk ◽  
Metabolic Equivalents ◽  
Risk Of Mortality ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
All Cause Mortality ◽  
Clinical Exercise Testing

Aims The association between peak systolic blood pressure (SBP) during exercise testing and outcome remains controversial, possibly due to the confounding effect of external workload (metabolic equivalents of task (METs)) on peak SBP as well as on survival. Indexing the increase in SBP to the increase in workload (SBP/MET-slope) could provide a more clinically relevant measure of the SBP response to exercise. We aimed to characterize the SBP/MET-slope in a large cohort referred for clinical exercise testing and to determine its relation to all-cause mortality. Methods and results Survival status for male Veterans who underwent a maximal treadmill exercise test between the years 1987 and 2007 were retrieved in 2018. We defined a subgroup of non-smoking 10-year survivors with fewer risk factors as a lower-risk reference group. Survival analyses for all-cause mortality were performed using Kaplan–Meier curves and Cox proportional hazard ratios (HRs (95% confidence interval)) adjusted for baseline age, test year, cardiovascular risk factors, medications and comorbidities. A total of 7542 subjects were followed over 18.4 (interquartile range 16.3) years. In lower-risk subjects ( n = 709), the median (95th percentile) of the SBP/MET-slope was 4.9 (10.0) mmHg/MET. Lower peak SBP (<210 mmHg) and higher SBP/MET-slope (>10 mmHg/MET) were both associated with 20% higher mortality (adjusted HRs 1.20 (1.08–1.32) and 1.20 (1.10–1.31), respectively). In subjects with high fitness, a SBP/MET-slope > 6.2 mmHg/MET was associated with a 27% higher risk of mortality (adjusted HR 1.27 (1.12–1.45)). Conclusion In contrast to peak SBP, having a higher SBP/MET-slope was associated with increased risk of mortality. This simple, novel metric can be considered in clinical exercise testing reports.

scholarly journals Sex differences in risk factors for myocardial infarction: cohort study of UK Biobank participants

BMJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. k4247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth R C Millett ◽  
Sanne A E Peters ◽  
Mark Woodward
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Myocardial Infarction ◽  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Type 1 Diabetes ◽  
Sex Differences ◽  
Confidence Interval ◽  
Systolic Blood Pressure ◽  
Uk Biobank ◽  
Hazard Ratios

AbstractObjectivesTo investigate sex differences in risk factors for incident myocardial infarction (MI) and whether they vary with age.DesignProspective population based study.SettingUK Biobank.Participants471 998 participants (56% women; mean age 56.2) with no history of cardiovascular disease.Main outcome measureIncident (fatal and non-fatal) MI.Results5081 participants (1463 (28.8%) of whom were women) had MI over seven years’ mean follow-up, resulting in an incidence per 10 000 person years of 7.76 (95% confidence interval 7.37 to 8.16) for women and 24.35 (23.57 to 25.16) for men. Higher blood pressure indices, smoking intensity, body mass index, and the presence of diabetes were associated with an increased risk of MI in men and women, but associations were attenuated with age. In women, systolic blood pressure and hypertension, smoking status and intensity, and diabetes were associated with higher hazard ratios for MI compared with men: ratio of hazard ratios 1.09 (95% confidence interval 1.02 to 1.16) for systolic blood pressure, 1.55 (1.32 to 1.83) for current smoking, 2.91 (1.56 to 5.45) for type 1 diabetes, and 1.47 (1.16 to 1.87) for type 2 diabetes. There was no evidence that any of these ratios of hazard ratios decreased with age (P>0.2). With the exception of type 1 diabetes, the incidence of MI was higher in men than in women for all risk factors.ConclusionsAlthough the incidence of MI was higher in men than in women, several risk factors were more strongly associated with MI in women compared with men. Sex specific associations between risk factors and MI declined with age, but, where it occurred, the higher relative risk in women remained. As the population ages and the prevalence of lifestyle associated risk factors increase, the incidence of MI in women will likely become more similar to that in men.

scholarly journals Relation Between Preclinical Atherosclerosis and Venous Thromboembolism in Patients With Thrombophilias – Longitudinal Study

2014 ◽  
pp. S403-S409 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. AUZKÝ ◽  
R. DEMBOVSKÁ ◽  
J. MRÁZKOVÁ ◽  
Š. NOVÁKOVÁ ◽  
L. PAGÁČOVÁ ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Body Mass Index ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Venous Thromboembolism ◽  
Waist Circumference ◽  
Systolic Blood Pressure ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
History Of ◽  
Preclinical Atherosclerosis

Preclinical atherosclerosis may represent a risk factor for venous thromboembolism (VTE). In longitudinal study we followed longitudinally 96 patients (32 men) with thrombophilias with (n=51) and without (n=45) history of VTE. In both groups we studied the changes of preclinical atherosclerosis at peripherally located arteries detected by ultrasound. In addition, we assessed changes in selected risk factors of atherosclerosis. During the mean follow-up of 56.0±7.62 months we did not find significant change in preclinical atherosclerosis defined as Belcaro score in either group (–3 % in the VTE group vs 0 % in non VTE group). Significant increase in body mass index (1.03±1.98 kg*m-2, resp. 1.21±1.67 kg*m-2, p<0.01) and non-significant increase in systolic blood pressure were detected in both groups. Waist circumference increased significantly only in patients without VTE (4.11±7.84 cm, p<0.05). No differences in changes of risk factors under study between both groups were detected. In summary, patients with thrombophilia and history of VTE showed no evidence of greater progression of atherosclerosis or increase in traditional risk factors of atherosclerosis than patients with thrombophilia without history of VTE. Unfavorable changes of body mass index, waist circumference and systolic blood pressure were detected in both groups during study period.

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