scholarly journals The Impact of War-Related Stress on Coronary Artery Disease Severity in War Survivors: A SYNTAX Study

Author(s):  
Hanna Al-Makhamreh ◽  
Dana Alkhulaifat ◽  
Abdallah Al-Ani ◽  
Baraa Mafrachi ◽  
Aseel Saadeh ◽  
...  

Background: Due to the strong relationship between stress and heart disease, particularly acute myocardial infarction (MI), this study investigated the complexity of coronary artery disease (CAD) among Syrian refugee patients referred to Jordan University Hospital and its relation to war-related stressors. Methods: This is a retrospective study that utilized the SYNTAX I score in order to evaluate all Syrian refugees that underwent coronary artery catheterization at Jordan University Hospital during the period between May of 2014 and December of 2017. Results: There was a significant association between war-related stressors and high SYNTAX score (SX score), thus indicating a higher complexity of CAD in Syrian war survivors with higher stress scores. The strongest war-related correlation was observed with crossing green-lines, in which Syrian refugee patients who had crossed such lines had significantly higher SYNTAX scores. Regression analysis demonstrated that war stressors were positive predictors of increased SYNTAX scores even when adjusted for conventional CAD risk factors. Surprisingly, none of the CAD risk factors were significantly associated with SYNTAX score. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that exposure to multiple war-related stressors may increase the complexity and severity of CAD in Syrian war survivors. Thus, special attention, efforts, and resources should be allocated to screen for such vulnerable patients in order to provide them with the appropriate healthcare.

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. CMC.S10225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne Foody ◽  
Yong Huo ◽  
Linong Ji ◽  
Dong Zhao ◽  
Dylan Boyd ◽  
...  

This study is the first systematic review of risk factors for stroke in China and supports the importance of current public health initiatives to manage the risk factors appropriately to reduce risk of stroke in high risk patients. Additionally, this study has been co-authored by prominent Chinese and US physicians and researchers with expertise in cardiovascular disease, neurologic disorders, epidemiology, and real world data. While there have been several systematic reviews of real world associations of risk factors for coronary artery disease, none focus specifically on the population of China, where there is growing evidence that such risk factors are poorly treated or uncontrolled, especially in rural areas. Background To better understand the impact of traditional cardiovascular risk factors on risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) in China, a systematic review of all Chinese observational studies published in either English or Chinese in MEDLINE and EMBASE over the last 5 years was performed and the association between any of 5 traditional risk factors (ie, hypertension, diabetes, elevated lipid levels, obesity, and smoking) and the risk of CAD was studied. Methods and Results The study found a consistent relationship between lipid levels and CAD. Higher low-density lipoprotein cholesterol values were associated with greater risk of CAD, with an odds ratio as high as 3.31. Other factors found to be significant contributors to the risk of CAD included hypertension (crude odds ratio range of 1.40-5.11), diabetes (1.50-5.97), and smoking (1.37-5.19). An association between obesity and CAD in China was observed, but the evidence supporting this was considered weak due to the paucity of studies found as part of this review. Conclusions This review provides a systematic summary of CAD risk factors in China and demonstrates the important differences that exist in CAD risk factors between countries and regions. Approaches to reduce CAD globally must take into account the unique risk factors that drive CAD in each country and region as is demonstrated by these findings.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Majid Nikpay ◽  
Ruth McPherson

AbstractHere we seek to identify molecular biomarkers that mediate the effect of risk factors on coronary artery disease (CAD). We perform a SNP-based multiomics data analysis to find biomarkers (probes) causally associated with the risk of CAD within known genomic loci for its risk factors. We identify 78 biomarkers, the majority (64%) of which are methylation probes. We detect the convergence of several CNS and lifestyle trait loci and their biomarkers at the 3p21.31 and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) regions. The 3p21.31 locus was the most populated region in the convergence of biomarkers and risk factors. In this region, we noted as the BSN gene becomes methylated the level of stomatin (STOM) in blood increases and this contributes to higher risk of CAD. In the HLA locus, we identify several methylation biomarkers associated with various CAD risk factors. SNPs in the CFB gene display a trans-regulatory impact on the GRIA4 protein level. A methylation site upstream of the APOE gene is associated with a higher protein level of S100A13 which in turn leads to higher LDL-C and greater CAD risk. We find UHRF1BP1 and ILRUN mediate the effect of obesity on CAD whereas methylation sites within NOS3 and CKM mediate the effect of their associated-risk factors on CAD. This study provides further insight into the biology of CAD and identifies a list of biomarkers that mediate the impact of risk factors on CAD. A SNP-based initiative can unite data from various fields of omics into a single network of knowledge.


Medicina ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 57 (6) ◽  
pp. 605
Author(s):  
Hanna K. Al-Makhamreh ◽  
Mohammed Q. Al-Sabbagh ◽  
Ala’ E. Shaban ◽  
Abdelrahman F. Obiedat ◽  
Ayman J. Hammoudeh

Background and Objectives: Patients with AF are at increased risk for Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) owing to their shared etiologies and risk factors. This study aimed to assess the prevalence, cardiovascular risk factors, and used medications of CAD in AF patients. Materials and Methods: This retrospective, case-control study utilized data from the Jordanian Atrial Fibrillation (Jo-Fib) registry. Investigators collected clinical features, history of co-existing comorbidities, CHA2DS2-VASc, and HAS BLED scores for all AF patients aged >18 visiting 19 hospitals and 30 outpatient cardiology clinics. A multivariable binary logistic regression was used to asses for factors associated with higher odds of having CAD. Results: Out of 2000 patients with AF, 227 (11.35%) had CAD. Compared to the rest of the sample, those with CAD had significantly higher prevalence of hypertension (82.38%; p < 0.01), hypercholesterolemia (66.52%, p < 0.01), diabetes (56.83%, p < 0.01), and smoking (18.06%, p = 0.04). Patients with AF and CAD had higher use of anticoagulants/antiplatelet agents combination (p < 0.01) compared to the rest of the sample. Females had lower CAD risk than males (OR = 0.35, 95% CI: 0.24–0.50). AF Patients with dyslipidemia (OR = 2.5, 95% CI: 1.8–3.4), smoking (OR = 1.7, 95% CI: 1.1–2.6), higher CHA2DS2-VASc score (OR = 1.5, 95% CI: 1.4–1.7), and asymptomatic AF (OR = 1.9, 95% CI: 1.3–2.6) had higher risk for CAD. Conclusions: Owing to the increased prevalence of CAD in patients with AF, better control of cardiac risk factors is recommended for this special group. Future studies should investigate such interesting relationships to stratify CAD risk in AF patients. We believe that this study adds valuable information regarding the prevalence, epidemiological characteristics, and pharmacotherapy of CAD in patients with AF.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Hui ◽  
Christopher S. Thom ◽  
Kimberly Lorenz ◽  
Scott M. Damrauer ◽  
Themistocles L. Assimes ◽  
...  

An inverse correlation between stature and risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) has been observed in several epidemiologic studies, and recent Mendelian randomization (MR) experiments have suggested evidence that this association may be causal. However, the extent to which the effect estimated by MR can be explained by established cardiovascular risk factors is unclear, with a recent report suggesting that lung function traits could fully explain the height-CAD effect. To clarify this relationship, we utilized the largest set of genetic instruments for human stature to date, comprising >2,000 genetic variants for height and CAD. In univariable analysis, we confirmed that a one standard deviation decrease in height (~6.5 cm) was associated with a 12.0% increase in the risk of CAD, consistent with previous reports. In multivariable analysis accounting for effects from up to 12 established risk factors, we observed a >3-fold attenuation in the causal effect of height on CAD susceptibility (3.7%, p = 2.1x10-2). We observed minimal effects of lung function traits on CAD risk in our analyses, indicating that these traits are unlikely to explain the residual association between height and CAD risk. In sum, these results suggest that height does not add meaningful clinical impact on CAD risk prediction beyond established risk factors.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pietari Ripatti ◽  
Joel T Rämö ◽  
Nina J Mars ◽  
Sanni Söderlund ◽  
Christian Benner ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundHyperlipidemia is a highly heritable risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD). Monogenic familial hypercholesterolemia associates with higher increase in CAD risk than expected from a single LDL-C measurement, likely due to lifelong cumulative exposure to high LDL-C. It remains unclear to what extent a high polygenic load of LDL-C or TG-increasing variants associates with increased CAD risk.Methods and ResultsWe derived polygenic risk scores (PRS) with ∼6M variants for LDL-C and TG with weights from a UK biobank-based genome-wide association study with ∼500K samples. We evaluated the impact of polygenic hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia to lipid levels in 27 039 individuals from the FINRISK cohort, and to CAD risk in 135 300 individuals (13 695 CAD cases) from the FinnGen project.In FINRISK, LDL-C ranged from 2.83 (95% CI 2.79-2.89) to 3.80 (3.72-3.88) and TG from 0.99 (0.95-1.01) to 1.52 (1.48-1.58) mmol/l between the lowest and highest 5% of the respective PRS distributions. The corresponding CAD prevalences ranged from 8.2% to 12.7% for the LDL-C PRS and from 8.2% to 12.1% for the TG PRS in FinnGen. Furthermore, CAD risk was 1.36-fold higher (OR, 95% CI 1.24-1.49) for the LDL-C PRS and 1.31-fold higher (1.20-1.44) for the TG PRS for those with the PRS >95th percentile vs those without. These estimates were only slightly attenuated when adjusting for a CAD PRS (OR 1.26 [95% CI 1.15-1.39] for LDL-C and 1.21 [1.10-1.32] for TG PRS).ConclusionsThe CAD risk associated with a high polygenic load for lipid-increasing variants was proportional to their impact on lipid levels and mostly independent of a CAD PRS. In contrast with a PRS for CAD, the lipid PRSs point to known and directly modifiable risk factors providing more direct guidance for clinical translation.


Circulation ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 118 (suppl_18) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshinobu Kitta ◽  
Mitsumasa Hirano ◽  
Takamitsu Nakamura ◽  
Yasushi Kodama ◽  
Keita Sano ◽  
...  

Although microalbuminuria is considered a strong risk factor of future cardiovascular disease (CVD), it remains unclear whether changes in urine albumin excretion (UAE) in response to a reduction of coronary risk factors may provide prognostic information in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Thus, this study assessed the hypothesis that changes in UAE in response to optimized therapy for reduction of CAD risk may predict future CVD events in patients with CAD. This study enrolled of 213 patients with newly diagnosed CAD who had microalbuminuria (30 mg/day ≤ UAE < 300 mg/day) at entry. Patients with late-stage chronic kidney disease (GFR < 60 ml/min/1.73 m 2 ) at entry were excluded. All patients had individualized, optimized therapies including medications and recommended life style changes to reduce risk factors for CAD according to AHA guidelines. All patients had a repeated test of UAE at 6 months (2 nd test) after the 1 st UAE test. Thereafter, all patients were prospectively followed up for 3 years or until the occurrence of 1 of the following events: CVD death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, unstable angina pectoris requiring revascularization, or ischemic stroke. Progression of UAE at the 2 nd test was defined as > 50% increase from the UAE at the 1 st test. UAE at 2 nd test was progressed in 62 (29%) patients, while it was not progressed in the remaining 151 (71%) patients. UAE at entry was comparable between patients with and without progression of UAE (52 ± 6.2 vs.61 ± 4.7 mg/day, respectively, p = ns). During follow-up period, events occurred in 15 (24%) of the 62 patients with progression of UAE and in 16 (10%) of the 151 patients without progression of UAE (p < 0.01 by chi-square test). Using a multivariate Cox hazards analysis, progression of UAE was a predictor of future CVD events that was independent of UAE at 1 st test, use of medications, age, and traditional CAD risk factors (HR 2.5, 95%CI 1.2 – 4.8, p = 0.01). Progression of urine albumin excretion despite individualized and optimized therapies to reduce CAD risk factors represents an adverse outcome in CAD patients. Periodic measurement of urine albumin excretion may be useful for risk stratification in CAD.


Author(s):  
Pietari Ripatti ◽  
Joel T. Rämö ◽  
Nina J. Mars ◽  
Yu Fu ◽  
Jake Lin ◽  
...  

Background: Hyperlipidemia is a highly heritable risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD). While monogenic familial hypercholesterolemia associates with severely increased CAD risk, it remains less clear to what extent a high polygenic load of a large number of LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol (LDL-C) or triglyceride (TG)-increasing variants associates with increased CAD risk. Methods: We derived polygenic risk scores (PRSs) with ≈6M variants separately for LDL-C and TG with weights from a UK Biobank–based genome-wide association study with ≈324K samples. We evaluated the impact of polygenic hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia to lipid levels in 27 039 individuals from the National FINRISK Study (FINRISK) cohort and to CAD risk in 135 638 individuals (13 753 CAD cases) from the FinnGen project (FinnGen). Results: In FINRISK, median LDL-C was 3.39 (95% CI, 3.38–3.40) mmol/L, and it ranged from 2.87 (95% CI, 2.82–2.94) to 3.78 (95% CI, 3.71–3.83) mmol/L between the lowest and highest 5% of the LDL-C PRS distribution. Median TG was 1.19 (95% CI, 1.18–1.20) mmol/L, ranging from 0.97 (95% CI, 0.94–1.00) to 1.55 (95% CI, 1.48–1.61) mmol/L with the TG PRS. In FinnGen, comparing the highest 5% of the PRS to the lowest 95%, CAD odds ratio was 1.36 (95% CI, 1.24–1.49) for the LDL-C PRS and 1.31 (95% CI, 1.19–1.43) for the TG PRS. These estimates were only slightly attenuated when adjusting for a CAD PRS (odds ratio, 1.26 [95% CI, 1.16–1.38] for LDL-C and 1.24 [95% CI, 1.13–1.36] for TG PRS). Conclusions: The CAD risk associated with a high polygenic load for lipid-increasing variants was proportional to their impact on lipid levels and partially overlapping with a CAD PRS. In contrast with a PRS for CAD, the lipid PRSs point to known and directly modifiable risk factors providing additional guidance for clinical translation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
O Soran ◽  
P.G Karadeniz ◽  
I.G Aktas ◽  
C.C Genc ◽  
M.H Ilkaya ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Primary prevention programs for coronary artery disease (CAD) may be effective in improving health-related behavioral outcomes. However, the implementation and especially the maintanance of these programs can be very challenging mainly due to staffing cost. Thus, the present study was designed to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of a longitudinally structured, enhanced education and follow-up program for CAD prevention in an area where the diverse population and economy are major problems. Methods SANKO Coronary Artery Disesae Prevention Project (SCAD-PPI) was designed as a longitudinal study and utilized medical school students to conduct the entire project under the supervision of professors. It started in 2014 and had 2 different education and training phases. In the first phase; every school year, 2nd year Medical students underwent a one-year, specially designed training program on primary prevention for CAD. In the second phase, which took place in the 2nd year of the study, a series of conferences on primary prevention for CAD were organized by the University and local municipalities for underserved populations. Participants were prospectively assigned to an intervention where pre and post conference knowledge were collected and assessed. Every intervention was conducted by specially trained 3rd year Medical students and an education booklet which was specifically designed for this study was given to the participants. Every other month thereafter, for 6 months, each participant was followed by phone. At the 6 month follow -up, data was collected to assess the impact of enhanced education and follow-up program on behavioral outcomes. Results A total of 135 participant were enrolled; 79% were women, mean age was 41±13 years, only 29% had a graduate school degree; 56% were not working. Mean BMI was 28.3±5.1kg/m2. Overall knowledge on CAD risk factors, primary prevention measures, diet and daily exercise habits were very poor. After the enhanced education and follow-up program there was a significant improvement on the knowledge of CAD risk factors and primary prevention measures (p&lt;0.001). More importantly, the follow-up program led participants to implement those positive changes into their lives and maintain a healthy life style. A separate cost analysis showed significant savings. Conclusion This is the first study which showed that a longitudinally structured training program of medical students could be utilized to implement an enhanced education and follow–up program for primary prevention of CAD in an economically challenged, underserved population with successful outcomes. This model program is not only cost-effective and beneficial for public interest but also enhances active interaction of medical students with patients at a very early stage of their career. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None


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