Cardiovascular risk factors and dementia mortality: 40 years of follow-up in the Seven Countries Study.

Previous research shows that cardiovascular risk factors in mid-adulthood could increase the risk of dementia later in life, but studies with very long follow-up are still scarce. We assessed whether cardiovascular risk factors measured in midlife were associated with dementia mortality during a 40-year follow-up. 10,211 men, aged 40-59 at baseline, from 13 cohorts of the Seven Countries Study were followed for 40 years.

Homogeneity in the relationship of serum cholesterol to coronary deaths across different cultures: 40-year follow-up of the Seven Countries Study.

Background: The aim was to investigate whether multivariate coefficients of serum cholesterol in the prediction of coronary heart disease (CHD) deaths were similar across different cultures in a long-term follow-up.

Design: Thirteen cohorts for a total of 10,157 men aged 40-59 years at entry, enrolled in seven countries (USA, Finland, the Netherlands, Italy, Serbia, Greece, Japan) were repeatedly examined and followed up for 40 years.

Methods: Serum cholesterol measured at baseline, and then on repeated occasions, was studied, using multivariate models, in relation with the occurrence of CHD deaths during a 40-year follow-up.

The stomatognathic system in the elderly. Useful information for the medical practitioner.

Aging per se has a small effect on oral tissues and functions, and most changes are secondary to extrinsic factors. The most common oral diseases in the elderly are increased tooth loss due to periodontal disease and dental caries, and oral precancer/cancer. There are many general, medical and socioeconomic factors related to dental disease (ie, disease, medications, cost, educational background, social class).

Mediterranean diet and prevention of coronary heart disease in the elderly.

There are now several scientific studies that relate this traditional dietary pattern with the incidence of coronary heart disease, various types of cancer, and other diseases. The past years have several observational and clinical studies suggested the mechanisms by which this traditional diet may affect coronary risk. This review underlines the importance of the Mediterranean dietary patterns in the prevention of coronary heart disease.

Forty-year coronary mortality trends and changes in major risk factors in the first 10 years of follow-up in the seven countries study.

Time trends in coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality during a 40-year follow-up were studied in the Seven Countries Study. Thirteen cohorts of men aged 40-59 at entry were enrolled in seven countries (USA, Finland, the Netherlands, Italy, Serbia, Greece and Japan) for a total of 10,628 subjects. Cardiovascular risk factors were measured at entry and at the 10-year follow-up examination and coronary heart disease mortality data collected during 40 years.

Survival of elderly bacteriuric subjects following long-term quinolone therapy.

This study aimed to determine whether long-term oral fluoroquinolone administration exerts a significant positive effect on mobility and mortality in elderly subjects with asymptomatic bacteriuria. 132 institutionalized patients were divided into 4 groups: groups A and B were treated with ofloxacin while groups C and D were positive and negative control groups. At 3 months following treatment discontinuation 57%, 53% and 26% of patients in groups A, B and C respectively had negative urine cultures and all subjects were alive.

The relation between pulse pressure and cardiovascular mortality in 12,763 middle-aged men from various parts of the world: a 25-year follow-up of the seven countries study.

Background: Hypertension is a dominant characteristic in the prediction of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). We aimed to evaluate the association of blood pressure measurements with CVD mortality among different populations of the world.

Methods: A total of 12 763 men, aged 40 to 59 years, from 7 countries (United States, Japan, Italy, Greece, former Yugoslavia, Finland, and the Netherlands) were surveyed from 1958 to 1964.

Total cholesterol and body mass index in relation to 40-year cancer mortality (the Corfu cohort of the seven countries study).

Purpose: We evaluated risk factors of cancer mortality based on a 40-year follow-up of the Corfu cohort (Seven Countries Study).

Material And Methods: The population studied in this analysis consisted of 529 rural men (49 +/- 6 years old) enrolled in 1961. Since then, periodic visits every 5 years were made to define the causes of death of the participants.

Long-term predictors of survival for the Seven Countries Study cohort from Crete: from 1960 to 2000.

Background: In 1960, all male inhabitants of a series of villages in rural Crete, born between 1900 and 1919, were invited to participate in the Seven Countries Study. Analysis of 25-year mortality data from the 16 cohorts of participants indicated that the cohort from Crete had the lowest age-standardised all-cause and coronary heart disease death rates.

Methods: At baseline, 686 Cretan men (98% of those invited) participated in health examinations.

Forty-year follow-up of coronary heart disease mortality and its predictors: the Corfu cohort of the seven countries study.

The authors examined the effect of several risk factors in relation to coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality in the Corfu cohort of the Seven Countries Study. The population studied in this analysis consisted of 529 rural men (age 40-59 years) enrolled in 1961. Multivariate analysis was performed with CHD death as the end point; age, blood pressure, heart rate, serum total cholesterol, smoking, physical activity, body mass index, skinfold thickness, vital capacity, and forced expiratory volume were the predictors.

The role of a baseline casual blood pressure measurement and of blood pressure changes in middle age in prediction of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality occurring late in life: a cross-cultural comparison among the European cohorts of the Seven Countries Study.

Objective: The first objective was to study the long-term association of a casual measurement of systolic blood pressure (SBP) with cardiovascular deaths (CVD) and all causes of death (ALL) occurring during 35 years of follow-up in different population samples of men aged 40-59 years in five European countries. The second objective was to study the predictive power of early change in SBP levels (years 0-10) in relation to late fatal events (years 10-35).

Design, Setting And Participants: A single measurement of SBP was considered in cohorts in Finland, The Netherlands, Italy, Serbia and Greece for a total of 6507 men.

Physical activity decreases the risk of stroke in middle-age men with left ventricular hypertrophy: 40-year follow-up (1961-2001) of the Seven Countries Study (the Corfu cohort).

Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is a dominant characteristic of cardiovascular mortality. We investigated the interaction between physical activity and LVH on stroke mortality, based on a 40-year follow-up of the Corfu cohort from the Seven Countries Study. The population studied consisted of 529 rural men (40-59 years old) enrolled in the Study at 1961.

Risk factors of stroke mortality: a 40-year follow-up of the Corfu cohort from the Seven-Countries Study.

The present work evaluates several risk factors for stroke mortality based on a 40-year follow-up of the Corfu cohort from the Seven-Countries Study. The population studied in this analysis consisted of 529 rural men (49.7 +/- 5.

Forty-years (1961-2001) of all-cause and coronary heart disease mortality and its determinants: the Corfu cohort from the Seven Countries Study.

Aims: This study examined risk factors in relation to 40-year all-cause and coronary heart disease mortality in the Corfu cohort of the Seven Countries Study.

Methods: The population studied in this analysis consisted of 529 rural middle-aged men enrolled in 1961. Multivariate analysis was performed using the proportional hazards Cox model with all-cause as well as coronary heart disease death as end points and age, blood pressure, serum total cholesterol, smoking, physical activity, body mass index, skinfold thickness, vital capacity and forced expiratory volume as predictors.

Ageing research in Greece.

Ageing research in Greece is well established. Research groups located in universities, research institutes or public hospitals are studying various and complementary aspects of ageing. These research activities include (a) functional analysis of Clusterin/Apolipoprotein J, studies in healthy centenarians and work on protein degradation and the role of proteasome during senescence at the National Hellenic Research Foundation; (b) regulation of cell proliferation and tissue formation, a nationwide study of determinants and markers of successful ageing in Greek centenarians and studies of histone gene expression and acetylation at the National Center for Scientific Research, Demokritos; (c) work on amyloid precursor protein and Presenilin 1 at the University of Athens; (d) oxidative stress-induced DNA damage and the role of oncogenes in senescence at the University of Ioannina; (e) studies in the connective tissue at the University of Patras; (f) proteomic studies at the Biomedical Sciences Research Center Alexander Fleming; (g) work on Caenorhabditis elegans at the Foundation for Research and Technology; (h) the role of ultraviolet radiation in skin ageing at Andreas Sygros Hospital; (i) follow-up studies in healthy elderly at the Athens Home for the Aged; and (j) socio-cultural aspects of ageing at the National School of Public Health.

Physical activity and nutrition in older adults.

Physical activity and nutrient intake are important determinants of health throughout life. Many of the alterations in physiological structure and function that occur with age may result from disuse and disability as well as from diets deficient in energy, protein or other specific nutrients. Although a healthy diet can provide significant health benefits, diet alone, is not sufficient to provide optimal health, nor protect us from the hazards of sedentary habits.

Comparative total mortality in 25 years in Italian and Greek middle aged rural men.

Study Objective: Mortality over 25 years has been low in the Italian and very low in the Greek cohorts of the Seven Countries Study; factors responsible for this particularity were studied in detail.

Participants And Settings: 1712 Italian and 1215 Greek men, aged 40-59 years, cohorts of the Seven Countries Study, representing over 95% of the populations in designated rural areas.

Design: Entry (1960-61) data included age, systolic blood pressure (SBP), smoking habits, total serum cholesterol, body mass index (BMI), arm circumference, vital capacity (VC), and forced expiratory volume in 3/4 seconds (FEV); the same data were obtained 10 years later.

Relationship of some risk factors with typical and atypical manifestations of coronary heart disease.

Background: This analysis explores whether 'typical' clinical manifestations of coronary heart disease (CHD) such as myocardial infarction and sudden death, relate to major cardiovascular risk factors in the same way as the 'atypical' manifestations, e.g. heart failure and chronic arrhythmias.

The inverse relation of average population blood pressure and stroke mortality rates in the seven countries study: a paradox.

This study attempts to explain the unexpected finding of an inverse population (ecological) relationship between mean systolic blood pressure levels and stroke death rates in 25 years follow-up of the Seven Countries Study, a cross-cultural study of cardiovascular disease. Sixteen cohorts of all men aged 40-59 in seven countries (one cohort in the USA, two in Finland, one in the Netherlands, three in Italy, two in Croatia (former Yugoslavia), three in Serbia (former Yugoslavia), two in Greece, two in Japan) were surveyed from 1958 to 1964. Risk factors and personal characteristics were measured and follow-up for vital status and cause of death was then carried out over 25 years.

Heart disease risk-factor status and dietary changes in the Cretan population over the past 30 y: the Seven Countries Study.

A follow-up study was conducted to identify the heart disease risk-factor status and dietary changes of surviving elderly subjects in Crete who took part in the Seven Countries Study in 1960. In 1991, data were obtained from 245 of the 686 original male participants (169 of the original 40-49-y age group and 76 men 50-59 y age group). In 1991, the men were 70-79 and 80-89 y old.

Survival in the oldest old: death risk factors in old and very old subjects.

Factors predicting death in the ninth decade of life may differ from predictors in younger age groups. A prospective study was carried out on 210 subjects entering a residential home at the age of 68 to 79 years and of 287 subjects aged greater than or equal to 80 years who included 91 survivors from the first group; all subjects were followed until 78% of them had died. A Cox analysis was carried out with death as end point and 13 potential risk factors as covariates.

Twenty-five-year prediction of stroke deaths in the seven countries study: the role of blood pressure and its changes.

Background And Purpose: This report explores the prediction of long-term stroke mortality in cohorts of the Seven Countries Study.

Methods: Sixteen cohorts of men aged 40 to 59 years at entry were examined at years 0, 5, and 10, with mortality follow-up through 25 years.

Results: Stroke death rates in 25 years were high in rural Serbia, Croatia, and Japan; intermediate in Italy, Greece, and urban Serbia; and low in Finland, the Netherlands, and the United States.

Comparison of multivariate predictive power of major risk factors for coronary heart diseases in different countries: results from eight nations of the Seven Countries Study, 25-year follow-up.

Background: It was hypothesized that among eight national groups of men aged 40-59 years enrolled in the Seven Countries Study, the multivariate coefficients of major risk factors predicting coronary heart disease mortality over 25 years would be relatively similar.

Materials And Methods: Sixteen cohorts were located in eight nations and pooled, comprising one cohort in the USA, two in Finland, one in the Netherlands, three in Italy, two in Croatia (former Yugoslavia), three in Serbia (Yugoslavia), two in Greece and two in Japan, for a total of over 12000 subjects at entry. Coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality was defined as fatal myocardial infarction or sudden coronary death, and proportional hazard models were solved, for each country, with age, serum cholesterol level, systolic blood pressure and cigarette consumption as covariates.

Changing prevalence of coronary heart disease risk factors and cardiovascular diseases in men of a rural area of Crete from 1960 to 1991.

This study compares the prevalence of coronary heart disease (CHD), risk factors (RF), and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) among Cretan men from a rural area examined in 1960 and 1991. The study population consisted of 148 men in 1960 and 42 men in 1991 of the same age group (fifty-five to fifty-nine years old) and from the same rural area. All men had a complete examination of the cardiovascular system and a resting electrocardiogram (ECG).

Changes in body weight in relation to mortality in 6441 European middle-aged men: the Seven Countries Study.

Objectives: To study the relation between changes in body weight and subsequent mortality.

Design: Prospective follow-up study.

Setting: Population study.