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Nontraditional Risk Factors (nontraditional + risk_factor)
Selected AbstractsFunctional Limitations, Socioeconomic Status, and All-Cause Mortality in Moderate Alcohol DrinkersJOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 6 2009Sei J. Lee MD OBJECTIVES: To determine whether the survival benefit associated with moderate alcohol use remains after accounting for nontraditional risk factors such as socioeconomic status (SES) and functional limitations. DESIGN: Prospective cohort. SETTING: The Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a nationally representative study of U.S. adults aged 55 and older. PARTICIPANTS: Twelve thousand five hundred nineteen participants were enrolled in the 2002 wave of the HRS. MEASUREMENTS: Participants were asked about their alcohol use, functional limitations (activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, and mobility), SES (education, income, and wealth), psychosocial factors (depressive symptoms, social support, and the importance of religion), age, sex, race and ethnicity, smoking, obesity, and comorbidities. Death by December 31, 2006, was the outcome measure. RESULTS: Moderate drinkers (1 drink/d) had a markedly more-favorable risk factor profile, with higher SES and fewer functional limitations. After adjusting for demographic factors, moderate drinking (vs no drinking) was strongly associated with less mortality (odds ratio (OR)=0.50, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.40,0.62). When traditional risk factors (smoking, obesity, and comorbidities) were also adjusted for, the protective effect was slightly attenuated (OR=0.57, 95% CI=0.46,0.72). When all risk factors including functional status and SES were adjusted for, the protective effect was markedly attenuated but still statistically significant (OR=0.72, 95% CI=0.57,0.91). CONCLUSION: Moderate drinkers have better risk factor profiles than nondrinkers, including higher SES and fewer functional limitations. Although these factors explain much of the survival advantage associated with moderate alcohol use, moderate drinkers maintain their survival advantage even after adjustment for these factors. [source] SLE, atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseaseJOURNAL OF INTERNAL MEDICINE, Issue 6 2005J. FROSTEGÅRD Abstract. Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease and the major cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in general. Atherosclerotic plaques are characterized by the presence of activated immune competent cells, but antigens and underlying mechanisms causing this immune activation are not well defined. During recent years and with improved treatment of acute disease manifestations, it has become clear that the risk of CVD is very high in a prototypic autoimmune disease, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). SLE-related CVD and atherosclerosis are important clinical problems but may in addition also shed light on how immune reactions are related to premature atherosclerosis and atherothrombosis. A combination of traditional and nontraditional risk factors, including dyslipidaemia (and to a varying degree hypertension, diabetes and smoking), inflammation, antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) and lipid oxidation are related to CVD in SLE. Premature atherosclerosis in some form leading to atherothrombosis is likely to be a major underlying mechanism, though distinctive features if any, of SLE-related atherosclerosis when compared with ,normal' atherosclerosis are not clear. One interesting possibility is that factors such as inflammation or aPL make atherosclerotic lesions in autoimmune disease more prone to rupture than in ,normal' atherosclerosis. Whether premature atherosclerosis is a general feature of SLE or only affects a subgroup of patients remains to be demonstrated. Treatment of SLE patients should also include a close monitoring of traditional risk factors for CVD. In addition, attention should also be paid to nontraditional risk factors such as inflammation and SLE-related factors such as aPL. Hopefully novel therapeutic principles will be developed that target the causes of the inflammation and immune reactions present in atherosclerotic lesions. [source] Lymphopenia is a risk factor in the progression of carotid intima-media thickness in juvenile-onset systemic lupus erythematosusARTHRITIS & RHEUMATISM, Issue 12 2009Yu-Lin Huang Objective To characterize the atherosclerotic risk factors in the progression of subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with juvenile-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods This was a longitudinal study of 76 patients with juvenile-onset SLE. Carotid arteries were evaluated using ultrasonography at baseline and at followup visits at 6-month intervals over the 6-year study period. Clinical and laboratory parameters, disease activity, treatment, and traditional risk factors for atherosclerosis were evaluated. Data were analyzed using generalized estimating equations. Results The mean ± SD age of the patients at baseline was 15.01 ± 3.48 years and the mean ± SD disease duration was 2.65 ± 2.5 years. The mean ± SD duration of followup was 3.74 ± 1.24 years. The mean ± SD intima-media thickness (IMT) of the common carotid arteries differed significantly between the patient and control (n = 38) groups (0.63 ± 0.08 mm versus 0.54 ± 0.06 mm; P < 0.001). The presence of lymphopenia at diagnosis and at baseline and higher levels of serum creatinine and C-reactive protein at baseline were positively associated with progression of carotid IMT (P = 0.006, P = 0.043, P = 0.037, and P = 0.049, respectively). In multivariate analysis, only lymphopenia at baseline and at diagnosis were consistently associated with progression of IMT (P = 0.012 and P = 0.045, respectively). Conclusion In patients with juvenile-onset SLE, some nontraditional risk factors for the progression of subclinical atherosclerosis were identified. Lymphopenia was the only independent risk factor for the progression of IMT. The pathogenic mechanisms warrant further investigation. [source] Premature atherosclerosis in pediatric systemic lupus erythematosus: Risk factors for increased carotid intima-media thickness in the atherosclerosis prevention in pediatric lupus erythematosus cohort,ARTHRITIS & RHEUMATISM, Issue 5 2009Laura E. Schanberg Objective To evaluate risk factors for subclinical atherosclerosis in a population of patients with pediatric systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods In a prospective multicenter study, a cohort of 221 patients underwent baseline measurements of carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) as part of the Atherosclerosis Prevention in Pediatric Lupus Erythematosus (APPLE) trial. SLE disease measures, medications, and traditional risk factors for atherosclerosis were assessed. A standardized protocol was used to assess the thickness of the bilateral common carotid arteries and the mean maximal IMT of 12 segments. Univariable analysis identified potential associations with CIMT, which were examined in multivariable linear regression modeling. Results Based on the mean-mean common or the mean-max CIMT as the dependent variable, univariable analysis showed significant associations of the following variables with increased CIMT: increasing age, longer SLE duration, minority status, higher body mass index (BMI), male sex, increased creatinine clearance, higher lipoprotein(a) level, proteinuria, azathioprine treatment, and prednisone dose. In multivariable modeling, both azathioprine use (P = 0.005 for the mean-mean model and P = 0.102 for the mean-max model) and male sex (P < 0.001) were associated with increases in the mean-max CIMT. A moderate dosage of prednisone (0.15,0.4 mg/kg/day) was associated with decreases in the mean-max CIMT (P = 0.024), while high-dose and low-dose prednisone were associated with increases in the mean-mean common CIMT (P = 0.021) and the mean-max CIMT (P = 0.064), respectively. BMI (P < 0.001) and creatinine clearance (P = 0.031) remained associated with increased mean-mean common CIMT, while increasing age (P < 0.001) and increasing lipoprotein(a) level (P = 0.005) were associated with increased mean-max CIMT. Conclusion Traditional as well as nontraditional risk factors were associated with increased CIMT in this cohort of patients in the APPLE trial. Azathioprine treatment was associated with increased CIMT. The relationship between CIMT and prednisone dose may not be linear. [source] | ||||||||||