Traditional Heart Disease Risk Factors Research Articles

Association Between Perceived Stress and Plasma B-Type Natriuretic Peptide Concentrations

Many patients with heart disease continue to have cardiac events despite receiving optimal treatments for traditional risk factors. Consequently, non-traditional risk factors for heart disease, such as perceived stress, have attracted attention. Associations between perceived stress and plasma B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) were explored, while controlling for traditional heart disease risk factors. This cross-sectional study examined 360 male and 446 female (age, >40 years) residents of a rural Japanese community who received annual health checkups in 2006. A lifestyle questionnaire was used to obtain information regarding perceived stress and medical history, and routine anthropometric and blood pressure measurements and a laboratory assessment of cardiovascular risk factors, including plasma BNP concentrations and an electrocardiogram, were done. After adjusting for traditional heart disease risk factors, multiple regression analysis showed that perceived stress was associated with BNP concentrations, particularly in women (F=6.12, P=0.026). In addition, multiple tests using Bonferroni's procedure showed that BNP concentrations decreased with perceived stress level in men and women. Similar trends were observed in the sub-analyses of subjects with and without known heart disease. Perceived stress in our study was negatively associated with plasma BNP concentrations, independently of traditional heart disease risk factors.

Long-term survival after coronary heart disease comparisons between men and women in a national sample

This study examined the sex differential in long-term survival after incident coronary heart disease (CHD) in the Epidemiologic Followup Study to the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. This cohort was first contacted in 1971 to 1975 with follow-up through 1987. Of the 1407 white participants for whom CHD was identified at some point during the study, 56% of men and 46% of women died during the follow-up period. After adjustment for age at incidence, traditional heart disease risk factors, and initial coronary disease diagnosis, the relative risk of death among women compared to men was 0.70. Women's survival advantage after myocardial infarction was 0.81. Women who had ever taken post-menopausal estrogens were most likely to survive after CHD or myocardial infarction compared to men (relative risks [RRs] = 0.42 and 0.57, respectively), although women who did not take estrogen were also significantly more likely than men to survive after CHD (RR = 0.79) but not after myocardial infarction (RR = 0.88).