Aging is the process spontaneously occurred in living organisms. Cardiac fibrosis is a pathophysiological process of cardiac aging. Mangiferin is a wellknown C-glucoside xanthone in mango leaves with lots of beneficial properties. In this study, rat model of cardiac fibrosis was induced by injected with 150 mg/kg/d Dgalactose for 8 weeks. The age-related cardiac decline was estimated by detecting the relative weight of heart, the serum levels of cardiac injury indicators and the expression of hypertrophic biomakers. Cardiac oxidative stress and local inflammation were measured by detecting the levels of malondialdehyde, enzymatic antioxidant status and proinflammatory cytokines. Cardiac fibrosis was evaluated by observing collagen deposition via masson and sirius red staining, as well as by examining the expression of extracellular matrix proteins via Western blot analysis. The cardiac activity of profibrotic TGF-β1/p38/MK2 signaling pathway was assessed by measuring the expression of TGF-β1 and the phosphorylation levels of p38 and MK2. It was observed that mangiferin ameliorated D-galactose-induced cardiac aging, attenuated cardiac oxidative stress, inflammation and fibrosis, as well as inhibited the activation of TGF-β1/p38/MK2 signaling pathway. These results showed that mangiferin could ameliorate cardiac fibrosis in D-galactose-induced aging rats possibly via inhibiting TGF-β/p38/MK2 signaling pathway.

Tai Chi and Qigong (TCQ) are regarded as major therapies of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), and welcomed by increasing practitioners worldwide for their efficacy in various health issues. To better learn about the popularity of TCQ in the United States, the related data collected from 2007, 2012 and 2017 questionnaires of the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) were examined and analyzed. The result showed that adult TCQ practitioners in the US increased substantially from 2007-2017, the percentage of Tai Chi practitioners in adult population was 1.0% in 2007, and Qigong practitioners 0.3%; Tai Chi practitioners was 1.1% in 2012, and Qigong practitioners 0.3%; in 2017, Tai Chi practitioners was 1.5%, and Qigong practitioners 0.5%. The top three reasons for using TCQ were: 82.4% for general wellness or disease prevention, 64.6% to improve or enhance energy, and 35.1% recommended by family, friends or co-workers. The health benefits of TCQ, the demand for complementary therapies and increasing research evidences were positive factors for the growth, while there are also challenges including insufficiencies in scientific researches and lacking of standardized teaching system. To promote the future development of TCQ in the US and oversea countries, we should optimize the research methods and standardize the teaching system, encourage the exchange and training of TCQ related professionals, and promote the integration of TCQ into conventional medical system and other related industries.

Aging is the process spontaneously occurred in living organisms. Cardiac fibrosis is a pathophysiological process of cardiac aging. Mangiferin is a wellknown C-glucoside xanthone in mango leaves with lots of beneficial properties. In this study, rat model of cardiac fibrosis was induced by injected with 150 mg/kg/d Dgalactose for 8 weeks. The age-related cardiac decline was estimated by detecting the relative weight of heart, the serum levels of cardiac injury indicators and the expression of hypertrophic biomakers. Cardiac oxidative stress and local inflammation were measured by detecting the levels of malondialdehyde, enzymatic antioxidant status and proinflammatory cytokines. Cardiac fibrosis was evaluated by observing collagen deposition via masson and sirius red staining, as well as by examining the expression of extracellular matrix proteins via Western blot analysis. The cardiac activity of profibrotic TGF-β1/p38/MK2 signaling pathway was assessed by measuring the expression of TGF-β1 and the phosphorylation levels of p38 and MK2. It was observed that mangiferin ameliorated D-galactose-induced cardiac aging, attenuated cardiac oxidative stress, inflammation and fibrosis, as well as inhibited the activation of TGF-β1/p38/MK2 signaling pathway. These results showed that mangiferin could ameliorate cardiac fibrosis in D-galactose-induced aging rats possibly via inhibiting TGF-β/p38/MK2 signaling pathway.

Objective: To investigate the current status, temporal trend and achieving Health China 2030 reduction target of probability of premature mortality caused by four main non-communicable diseases (NCDs) including cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, tumour, diabetes, and chronic respiratory disease in China both at national and provincial level during 1990 to 2015. Methods: Using the results of Global Burden of Disease study 2015 (GBD 2015), according to the method of calculating premature mortality probability recommended by WHO, the current status and temporal trend by different gender from 1990 to 2015 were calculated, analyzed, and compared. Referring to " Health China 2030" target of reduction 30% of probability of premature mortality caused by major NCDs, we evaluated the difficulty of achieving the reduction target among provinces (not including Taiwan). Results: From 1990 to 2015, the probabilities of premature mortality in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, tumour, and chronic respiratory disease were all declined consistently for both men and women in China, the total of four main NCDs decreased from 30.69% to 18.54% with higher decreasing in women (from 25.97% to 12.40%) than that in men (from 34.94% to 24.19%). In 2015, the top five provinces in terms of probability of premature mortality caused by four main NCDs were Qinghai (28.81%), Tibet (25.88%), Guizhou (24.67%), Guangxi (23.56%), and Xinjiang (23.21%) in turn, while the top five provinces with the lowest probability were Shanghai (8.40%), Beijing (9.39%), Hong Kong (10.10%), Macao (10.31%), and Zhejiang (11.70%). If achieving the " Health China 2030" target, the probabilities of premature mortality in Qinghai and Tibet with the highest probability should decline to about 20.17%, and 18.12%, respectively in 2030, while 5.88%, and 6.57% in Shanghai and Beijing, respectively. From 1990 to 2015, the probability of premature mortality of four main NCDs declined by 2.00% a year on average, the top five provinces with the fastest decline were Beijing (3.48%), Shanghai (3.24%), Zhejiang (2.81%), Fujian (2.75%), and Guangdong (2.67%), and 11 provinces including these five provinces could achieve the " Health China 2030" target by the usual rate of decline, while other 22 provinces could not achieve the target, they need greater rate of decline in order to achieve the target. Conclusion From 1990 to 2015, the probabilities of premature mortality of four main NCDs were declined consistently in China both at national and provincial level, compared with women, the men had higher probabilities and declined slower, there were significant different in probabilities of premature mortality and their change speed among provinces. Based on the results from 1990 to 2015, there were about two thirds of the provinces, which the task of achieving the Health China 2030 target will be daunting.

Objective: To estimate the impact of risk factors control on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) mortality, life expectancy and the numbers of labor force lost in China in 2030. Methods: We used the results of China from Global Burden of Disease Study 2013, according to the correlation between death of NCDs and exposure of risk factors and the comparative risk assessment theory, to calculate population attributable fraction (PAF) and disaggregate deaths of NCDs into parts attributable and un-attributable. We used proportional change model to project risk factors exposure and un-attributable deaths of NCDs in 2030, then to get deaths of NCDs in 2030. Simulated scenarios according to the goals of global main NCDs risk factors control proposed by WHO were constructed to calculate the impact of risk factors control on NCDs death, life expectancy and the numbers of labor force lost. Results: If the risk factors exposure changed according to the trend of 1990 to 2013, compared to the numbers (8.499 million) and mortality rate (613.5/100 000) of NCDs in 2013, the death number (12.161 million) and mortality rate (859.2/100 000) would increase by 43.1% and 40.0% respectively in 2030, among which, ischemic stroke (increasing by 103.3% for death number and 98.8% for mortality rate) and ischemic heart disease (increasing by 85.0% for death number and 81.0% for mortality rate) would increase most quickly. If the risk factors get the goals in 2030, the NCDs deaths would reduce 2 631 thousands. If only one risk factor gets the goal, blood pressure (1 484 thousands NCDs deaths reduction), smoking (717 thousands reduction) and BMI (274 thousands reduction) would be the most important factors affecting NCDs death. Blood pressure control would have greater impact on ischemic heart disease (662 thousands reduction) and hemorrhagic stroke (449 thousands reduction). Smoking control would have the greatest effect on lung cancer (251 thousands reduction) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (201 thousands reduction). BMI control would have the greatest impact on ischemic heart disease (86 thousands reduction) and hypertensive heart disease (45 thousands reduction). If the risk factors exposure changed according to the trend of 1990 to 2013, in 2030, the life expectancy of Chinese population would reach to 79.0 years old, compared to 2013, increasing by 3.3 years old, the labor force at the age of 15-64 years old would loss 1.932 million. If the risk factors get the goals in 2030, life expectancy would increase to 81.7 years old and the number of labor force lost would decrease to 1.467 million. Blood pressure, smoking and BMI control would have much greater impact on life expectancy (4.9, 4.0 and 3.8 years old respectively) and labor force lost (630 thousands, 496 thousands and 440 thousands respectively). Conclusion Risk factors control would play an important role in reducing NCD death, improving life expectancy of residents and reducing loss of labor force. Among them, the control of blood pressure raising, smoking and BMI raising would have a greater contribution to the improvement of population health status.

Objective To analyze the characteristics of life expectancy and influencing factors in Chinese population in different areas and provide scientific evidence for policy-making on disease managements,medical care and risk factor intervention.Methods Based on the national census data from National Bureau of Statistics and the death registration data from the National Health and Family Planning Commission,we used exponential model,under-report adjustment model and abbreviated life tables to estimate the life expectancy and influence on disease in Chinese population in 2013.Results The Chinese life expectancy was 75.8 years in 2013,1 year higher than that in 2010.The life expectancy in urban area was 77.4 years,while it was 75.1 years that in rural area with the gap between the rural area and urban area was 2.3 years.The life expectancy was 77.2 years in the eastern area,75.8 years in middle area and 73.5 years in western area,the gap between the east and west was 3.6 years.In 2013,the first 10 leading diseases causing the life expectancy lost were cerebrovascular disease,ischemic heart disease,chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,lung cancer,road injury,liver cancer,stomach cancer,hypertensive heart disease,lower respiratory infection,esophagus cancer,resulting in 7.97 years of life expectancy lost.Conclusion The life expectancy in Chinese has already reached a relative high level,while the gap between different areas still exists.Different policies on disease management,medical care and risk factor interventions targeting different areas are needed to increase the life expectancy and improve the quality of life.

Objective To explore the effect of fime particulate matters with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 μtm (PM2.5) on daily cardiovascular disease mortality in seven cities of China.Methods Daily average concentrations of PM2.5,cardiovascular disease mortality data and environmental data were collected from January 1,2013 to December 31,2015 in seven cities of China,including Shijiazhuang,Haerbin,Shanghai,Wuhan,Guangzhou,Chengdu and Xi'an.We linked generalized additive model with Quasi-Poisson distribution to evaluate the association between daily concentrations of PM2.5 and cardiovascular disease mortality at single-city level and multi-city level,after adjusting for the long-term and seasonal trend,as well as meteorological factors and the effect of "days of week".Results The single-pollutant model indicated that there were marked differences in association strength in these cities,among which the effect in Guangzhou was strongest.At multi-city level,a 10 μg/m3 increase of PM2.5 was associated with an increase of 0.315％ (95％CI:0.133％-0.497％) of daily cardiovascular disease mortality.From lag0 to lag2,the effect of PM2.5 on cardiovascular disease mortality decreased,while it was strongest on lag01.In the two-pollutant model,the estimated effect decreased in all the cities with the adjustments of SO2 or NO2.The insignificant combined results suggested that PM2.5 might have combined effect with other pollutants.Each 10 μg/m3 increase of PM2.5 was associated with increases of 0.371％ (95％CI:0.141％-0.600％) and 0.199％ (95％ CI:0.077％-0.321％) of cardiovascular disease mortality in males and females,respectively.The effect of PM2.5 on cardiovascular disease mortality increased with age and decreased with educational level,although the differences between different subgroups were insignificant.The dose-response relationship between PM2.5 and cardiovascular disease mortality was non-linear and non-threshold,with a steeper curve at lower concentrations.Conclusion The increases of PM2.5 concentration can result in the increase of daily cardiovascular mortality.

Objective To analyze deaths that attributable to high fasting plasma glucose and its impact on life expectancy among Chinese residents in 2013.Methods Data from the Mortality Surveillance Programs in National Disease Surveillance Points System and the China Chronic Disease Surveillance (2013) were used.Death attributed to high fasting plasma glucose and its impact on the life expectancy of Chinese residents were estimated,based on the principle of population attributable fraction.Results In 2013,the total number of deaths attributed to high fasting plasma glucose among aged ≥25 years old was 621 thousand,with 333 thousand males and 288 thousand females.Diseases related to the number of deaths caused by high fasting plasma glucose would include ischemic heart disease (212 thousand) as the most important one.Cerebrovascular disease appeared the 2nd place,with around 181 thousand cases and then followed by diabetes (145 thousand),chronic kidney disease (52 thousand) and tuberculosis (31 thousand).After removal of the effects on high blood glucose exposure,the life expectancy of Chinese residents in 2013 would have reached 76.5 years old,an average increase of 0.7 years,compared to the average life expectancy of all deaths,with men having an increase of 0.7 years and women of 0.8 years,respectively.Conclusions High fasting plasma glucose appeared an important risk factor for mortality and life expectancy on the Chinese residents.Programs related to prevention and control of high fasting plasma glucose and related diseases should be strengthened.