Risk Factors For Heart Disease In Women Living In Rural And Urban Areas In Sinaloa, Mexico

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is still the mayor cause of death in Mexico. In Sinaloa, Mexico, there are no reported studies regarding the prevalence of biomarkers or anthropometric measurements associated with CVD. The aim of this study was to determine the presence of these risk factors in pre-menopausal women from two urban and rural areas. 224 women, distributed into 4 groups participated. Urban: 24 from Mazatlán and 36 from Culiacán, rural: 52 from S. Leyva and 32 from Cosala. A 12 h fast blood sample was drawn from each participant to analyze total cholesterol (TC), LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) HDL cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides (TAG) and glucose. The metabolic syndrome was defined as having three or more of the risk factors postulated by the ATP-III. All participants were overweight or obese with a waist circumference greater than 88 cm. All participants had TC > 200 and LDL-C >120 mg/dL. HDL-C concentrations were significantly lower (P < 0.01) in Culiacán (47.1 ±9.1 mg/dL) and Mazatlan (49.3 ± 13.9 mg/dL) compared to the rural areas. Urban women had higher plasma glucose concentrations compared to rural women (P < 0.05). The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was high in all the participants with 36, 25, 21 and 25 % of cases in Culiacán, Mazatlán, S. Leyva and Cosala, respectively. The most frequently consumed foods by these women are: soda, corn tortilla, sugar, fried potatoes, tomatoes, cheese, refried beans, eggs, and fatty meat. From these studies we conclude that CVD risk factors are high among women from Sinaloa and that their diet might contribute to the presence of some of these factors.