Surveys of noncommunicable diseases were performed in six communities in Papua New Guinea during 1985-1986. Results are reported here with respect to blood pressure and associated factors in adults. Mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures were lowest, and hypertension was rarest (less than 2%), in three rural/semirural villages on Karkar Island, Madang Province. Intermediate values for blood pressure and moderate prevalence of hypertension (3-6%) were observed in rural and urban Tolai communities in East New Britain Province. A periurban village in the Eastern Highlands Province displayed the highest mean blood pressures and prevalence of hypertension (12% in men and 5% in women). There was a modest rise in mean systolic blood pressure with age in most groups, but the age-related rise in diastolic pressure was much less pronounced. Other cardiovascular risk factors--body mass index (BMI), and plasma cholesterol, glucose and insulin concentrations--were lowest in the least developed rural villages on Karkar Island and highest in the urban Tolai and periurban highland communities. Both systolic and diastolic blood pressures were significantly (and positively) related to age, male sex, BMI and speaking a non-Austronesian language. It is concluded that there is now a considerable variation in the prevalence of hypertension, and the levels of blood pressure and other cardiovascular risk factors, in different communities in Papua New Guinea.
Adult ; Blood Pressure ; Cardiovascular Diseases - etiology ; Diabetes Mellitus - epidemiology ; Hypertension - complications ; Obesity - epidemiology ; Papua New Guinea

PURPOSE: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) generally varies depending on its diagnostic definition, and many different definitions inevitably lead to substantial confusion and lack of comparability between studies. Despite extensive research, there is still no gold standard for the definition of MetS, which continues to be a matter of debate. In this study, we investigate whether and to what extent its individual components are related to the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Korean population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used data from the 2005 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which is a nationally representative survey of the noninstitutionalized civilian population. The study sample consisted of 1,406 Korean adults (587 men, 819 women) who were diagnosed with MetS based on the revised National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) criteria. Central obesity is defined as a waist circumference cutoff point reported in Asia-Pacific criteria for obesity based on waist circumference by the World Health Organization. CVD was defined as presence of stroke, myocardial infarction, or angina pectoris on a medical history questionnaire. RESULTS: The CVD prevalence among the subjects was 6.8% for men and 8.6% for women. Besides age, the components of MetS showing a significant difference in the number of CVD events were high fasting glucose (FG) in men and high blood pressure (BP) and high FG in women. After adjusting for gender and age, high FG was shown to yield a significant difference (odds ratio: unadjusted 2.08, adjusted 1.81), alone among all MetS components. However, after adjusting for only age, no significant difference was found. CONCLUSION: Fasting glucose level is the highest predicting factor for CVD in Korean patients with MetS based on the revised NECP definition.
Age Factors ; Blood Glucose/analysis ; Cardiovascular Diseases/epidemiology/*etiology ; Chi-Square Distribution ; Female ; Health Promotion ; Health Surveys ; Humans ; Hypertension/complications/epidemiology ; Male ; Metabolic Syndrome X/complications/*diagnosis/epidemiology ; Middle Aged ; Odds Ratio ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Risk Factors ; Sex Factors

The aim of this study was to examine whether serum homocysteine (Hcy) levels correlated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) depending on the presence or absence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in Korean men. We conducted a case-control study, including 138 CVD and 290 non-CVD age-matched control subjects. The subjects were divided into four subgroups: 34 CVD/MetS, 104 CVD, 77 MetS, and 213 normal subgroups. The mean Hcy was significantly higher, whereas HDL and intake of vitamin B1 and B2 were lower in the CVD group (P < 0.05) than non-CVD group. When compared to the control group, subjects with CVD/MetS, CVD and MetS exhibited high Hcy levels, with the highest observed in the CVD/MetS subgroup (P < 0.001). Multivariate stepwise linear regression between CVD and markers of CVD showed Hcy significantly correlated with CVD (P < 0.05). To predict CVD based on Hcy, Hcy threshold of 11.72 microM in non-MetS subjects had an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.664 (95% CI 0.598-0.731). In MetS subjects, the AUC was 0.618 and Hcy threshold was 13.32 microM (95% CI 0.509-0.726). The results of our study show that the presence of MetS needs to be considered when using Hcy levels for predicting CVD.
Adult ; Area Under Curve ; Cardiovascular Diseases/*blood/complications/epidemiology ; Case-Control Studies ; Cholesterol, HDL/blood ; Dietary Supplements ; Homocysteine/blood ; Humans ; Linear Models ; Male ; Metabolic Syndrome X/*complications ; Middle Aged ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology

PURPOSE: Although cardiac involvement is an infrequently recognized manifestation of venomous snakebites, little is known of the adverse cardiovascular events (ACVEs) arising as a result of snakebite in Korea. Accordingly, we studied the prevalence of ACVEs associated with venomous snakebites in Korea and compared the clinical features of patients with and without ACVEs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective review was conducted on 65 consecutive venomous snakebite cases diagnosed and treated at the emergency department of Wonju Severance Christian Hospital between May 2011 and October 2014. ACVEs were defined as the occurrence of at least one of the following: 1) myocardial injury, 2) shock, 3) ventricular dysrhythmia, or 4) cardiac arrest. RESULTS: Nine (13.8%) of the 65 patients had ACVEs; myocardial injury (9 patients, 13.8%) included high sensitivity troponin I (hs-TnI) elevation (7 patients, 10.8%) or electrocardiogram (ECG) determined ischemic change (2 patients, 3.1%), and shock (2 patient, 3.1%). Neither ventricular dysrhythmia nor cardiac arrest was observed. The median of elevated hs-TnI levels observed in the present study were 0.063 ng/mL (maximum: 3.000 ng/mL) and there was no mortality in the ACVEs group. Underlying cardiac diseases were more common in the ACVEs group than in the non-ACVEs group (p=0.017). Regarding complications during hospitalization, 3 patients (5.4%) in the non-ACVEs group and 3 patients (33.3%) in the ACVEs group developed bleeding (p=0.031). CONCLUSION: Significant proportion of the patients with venomous snakebite is associated with occurrence of ACVEs. Patients with ACVEs had more underlying cardiac disease and bleeding complication.
Aged ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac/epidemiology/*etiology ; Cardiovascular Diseases/epidemiology ; Electrocardiography ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Female ; Heart Arrest/epidemiology/*etiology ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Republic of Korea ; Retrospective Studies ; Snake Bites/*complications/diagnosis/epidemiology ; Troponin I/blood

PURPOSE: To describe the relationship between the waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRFs) and to evaluate the validity of WHtR in identifying adolescents with metabolic syndrome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed data from a pooled population of 4068 adolescents aged 10-19 years from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys conducted between 1998 and 2008. Overweight individuals were defined by body mass index (BMI) ≥85th percentile. Those with at least 2 CMRFs among hypertension, hyperglycemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and decreased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were classified as having multiple CMRFs. RESULTS: WHtR was significantly related to systolic blood pressure, HDL-C, and triglycerides in both non-overweight and overweight adolescents (all p<0.01). Among overweight adolescents, the area under the curve (AUC) for WHtR in identifying multiple CMRFs was significantly greater than that for BMI (p=0.014). Metabolic syndrome was more common in overweight adolescents with a WHtR of ≥0.5 than in those with a WHtR of <0.5 (p<0.001). In non-overweight adolescents, the prevalences of multiple CMRFs (p=0.001) and metabolic syndrome (p<0.001) were higher in those with a WHtR of ≥0.5 than in those with a WHtR of <0.5. Among those without central obesity, the prevalence of multiple CMRFs was higher in those with a WHtR of ≥0.5 than in those with a WHtR of <0.5 (p=0.021). CONCLUSION: WHtR is a simple and valid index for identifying adolescents with increased cardiometabolic risk and is related to CMRFs even in non-overweight adolescents. In adolescents already screened via BMI and waist circumference (WC), WHtR seems to be of additional help in discriminating those at higher cardiometabolic risk.
Adolescent ; Blood Pressure/physiology ; *Body Height ; Body Mass Index ; Cardiovascular Diseases/*epidemiology ; Child ; Cholesterol, HDL/blood ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension/complications/epidemiology ; Male ; Metabolic Syndrome X/*epidemiology ; Nutrition Surveys ; Obesity, Abdominal/complications/*epidemiology ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Risk Factors ; Triglycerides/blood ; *Waist Circumference/physiology ; *Waist-Height Ratio ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND: Many previous studies have shown that elevated homocysteine in the serum is a well known risk factor for cardiovascular disease and this is associated with other risk factors for cardiovascular disease, but any Korean data on this is limited. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to calculate the prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia and to analyze the relation between elevated homocysteine and the lifestyle factors of Korean adults. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey that included 650 men and 743 women (age range, 20 to 79 years) who were residents of Gwangju City in Gyeonggi-do. These subjects participated in the health interview and examination survey from November to December 2005. The total homocysteine, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and triglyceride in the serum were measured. All the participants had their body composition measured such as height and weight, and we obtained health-related behavioral information through the self-entry questionnaire. RESULTS: Very right-handed skewed distributions of homocysteine were shown in men and women. The prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia was 22.6% in men and 13.7% in women in Gwangju city. On the multiple logistic regression analysis, hyperhomocysteinemia was associated with age (OR=1.02, 95% CI=1.01-1.04), male gender (OR=1.60, 95% CI=1.02-2.52), severe general physical activity (OR=0.32, 95% CI=0.15-0.69) and nutrient consumption (OR=0.49, 95% CI=0.31-0.76). CONCLUSIONS: There is a great prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia in adults of Gwangju City, Korea and it was associated with both genetic factors and lifestyle risk factors. This study can suggest that comprehensive lifestyle modification is needed in order to diminish the prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia and to prevent CVD.
Adult ; Age Distribution ; Aged ; Cardiovascular Diseases/epidemiology/etiology ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Health Behavior ; Health Surveys ; Humans ; Hyperhomocysteinemia/complications/*epidemiology ; Korea/epidemiology ; Lipids/blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Sex Distribution

Adolescent ; Blood Glucose ; analysis ; Blood Pressure ; Body Mass Index ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; etiology ; Child ; China ; epidemiology ; Diabetes Mellitus ; etiology ; Humans ; Metabolic Syndrome ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; etiology ; prevention & control ; Obesity ; complications ; Practice Guidelines as Topic ; Risk Factors ; Waist-Hip Ratio

OBJECTIVETo investigate the penile erectile function of hospitalized male patients with cardiovascular diseases, the incidence of erectile dysfunction (ED) in this cohort, and the relationship of ED with cardiovascular diseases and its risk factors.

METHODSUsing a self-designed questionnaire, we conducted an investigation among the hospitalized patients in the Department of Cardiovascular Diseases of the First and Second Affiliated Hospitals of Xi'an Jiaotong University. We measured their body height, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, hip circumference, and blood pressure, obtained their personal data, past history, metabolic indexes, and erectile function scores by IIEF-5, and analyzed the risk factors of ED using univariate and multivariate logistic regression and OR analyses.

RESULTSTotally, 225 valid questionnaires were included in this investigation, which showed a 66.7% incidence of ED, 15.8% mild, 27.0% mild to moderate, 17.6% moderate, and 6.3% severe. The incident rates of ED in the 18-35 yr, 36-49 yr, 50-65 yr, and > 65 yr age groups were 13.6%, 39.1%, 89.2%, and 91.2%, respectively. Univariate logistic regression analysis manifested that the risk factors of ED in the patients with cardiovascular diseases included age (OR = 3.122, 95% CI 2.040-4.779), smoking (OR = 1.768, 95% CI 1.209-2.584), BMI (OR = 1.261, 95% CI 1.114-1.427), total cholesterol (OR = 1.77, 95% CI 1.339-2.340), TC/HDL (OR =1.715, 95% CI 1.349-2.181), hypertension (OR = 1.717, 95% CI 1.110-2.658), and coronary heart disease (OR = 2.235, 95% CI 1.169-4.275), while multivariate logistic regression analysis showed the risk factors to be age (OR = 4.99, 95% CI 2.264-10.998), financial condition, (OR = 2.804, 95% CI 1.127-6.976), smoking (OR = 2.109, 95% CI 1.179-3.772), BMI (OR = 1.414, 95% CI 1.136-1.760), and TC/HDL (OR = 2.001, 95% CI 1.016-3.943).

CONCLUSIONThe incidence of ED is high in hospitalized patients with cardiovascular diseases and rises with the increase of age. Age, smoking, financial condition, BMI, and TC/HDL are the risk factors of both ED and cardiovascular diseases, and financial condition is closely associated with ED.

Adult ; Aged ; Blood Pressure ; Body Height ; Body Mass Index ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; complications ; Erectile Dysfunction ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Hypertension ; complications ; Imidazoles ; Incidence ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pyrimidines ; Regression Analysis ; Risk Factors ; Smoking ; adverse effects ; Waist Circumference ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study were to investigate the effects of a 12-week brisk walking program on triglycerides (TG) and apolipoprotein B (Apo B) and to compare these effects to those of a brisk walking plus diet program in middle-aged overweight/obese (BMI> or =23) Korean women with hypertriglyceridemia. METHOD: This analysis was done with nineteen middle-aged overweight/obese Korean women who completed either the brisk walking program (9 women) or the brisk walking plus diet program (10 women) for 12 weeks. The brisk walking consisted of walking for 20 to 50 minutes/day at an intensity of 40 to 70% of heart rate reserve (HRR) for 3 to 6 days/week. The diet consisted of 60 minutes of group education and 20 to 30 minutes of individual counseling every week. TG and Apo B were assessed pre- and post-intervention. RESULTS: TG and Apo B decreased significantly after the brisk walking program (Z = -2.31, p = 0.021; Z = -2.59, p = 0.009). TG and Apo B lowering effects of the brisk walking program were not significantly different from those of the brisk walking plus diet program (U = 37.0, p = 0.549; U = 42.0, p = 0.842). CONCLUSION: Brisk walking can be an effective intervention for overweight/obese middle-aged women with hypertriglyceridemia in reducing cardiovascular risk by lowering TG and Apo B levels. Adding diet to brisk walking may have no additional significant effects on changes in TG and Apo B.
Adult ; Apolipoproteins B/blood ; Body Mass Index ; Cardiovascular Diseases/etiology/prevention & control ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Counseling/organization & administration ; Diet, Fat-Restricted/*methods ; Energy Intake ; Exercise Test ; Exercise Therapy/education/*methods ; Female ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Hypertriglyceridemia/blood/complications/epidemiology/*prevention & control ; Korea/epidemiology ; Middle Aged ; Nursing Evaluation Research ; Obesity/complications/epidemiology/*prevention & control ; Patient Education as Topic/organization & administration ; Prevalence ; Risk Reduction Behavior ; Triglycerides/blood ; *Walking

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship of nonalcoholic fatty liver and cardiovascular risk factors. METHODS: This study was conducted to investigate the association of nonalcoholic fatty liver and cardiovascular risk factors for adult men (n=2976) and women (n=2442) who were over 19 years old, after excluding the HBsAg(+) or anti-HCV(+) patients and the men and women with increased alcohol intake (men: 40 g/week, women: 20 g/week). RESULTS: Compared with the normal liver subjects, the nonalcoholic fatty liver subjects showed a significantly increased frequency of abnormal systolic blood pressure (> or =120 mmHg), fasting blood sugar (> or =100 mg/dL), total cholesterol (> or =200 mg/dL), triglyceride (> or =150 mg/dL), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (<40 mg/dL), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (> or =130g m/dL) and abdominal obesity in men, and all these measures were significantly increased in the women except for abnormal HDL cholesterol. After adjusting for the body mass index, age, smoking, exercise and a nonalcoholic liver, the odds ratios of an abnormal waist hip ratio were 1.35(95% Confidence Interval=1.05-4.72) in the mild fatty liver, 1.61(1.19-2.18) in the moderate fatty liver, 2.77(1.57-4.92) in the severe fatty liver compared with a normal liver. The adjusted odds ratios for abnormal fasting blood sugar were 1.26(1.03-1.53) in the mild fatty liver, 1.62(1.27-2.06) in the moderate fatty lliver and 1.77(1.12-2.78) in the severe fatty liver. The adjusted odds ratios for abnormal triglyceride were 1.38(1.11-1.72) in the mild fatty liver, 1.73(0.33-2.24) in the moderate fatty liver and 1.91(1.17-3.10) in the severe fatty liver of men. Adjusted odds ratios for abnormal triglyceride were 1.50(1.04-2.15) in mild, 1.71(1.07-2.68) in moderate, 1.81(0.69-4.38) in severe fatty liver of women. CONCLUSIONS: The nonalcoholic fatty liver subjects had more cardiovascular risk factors compared with the normal liver subjects. Thus, prevention and treatment of the nonalcoholic fatty liver is necessary by lifestyle modifications such as restriction of alcohol intake, no smoking, exercise and adequate eating habits.
Adult ; Blood Pressure ; Body Mass Index ; Cardiovascular Diseases/*epidemiology/etiology ; Cholesterol/blood ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Data Interpretation, Statistical ; Fatty Liver/*complications ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Risk Factors ; Waist-Hip Ratio