Relation of urinary calcium and magnesium excretion to blood pressure: The International Study Of Macro- And Micro-nutrients And Blood Pressure and The International Cooperative Study On Salt, Other Factors, And Blood Pressure.

Data indicate an inverse association between dietary calcium and magnesium intakes and blood pressure (BP); however, much less is known about associations between urinary calcium and magnesium excretion and BP in general populations. The authors assessed the relation of BP to 24-hour excretion of calcium and magnesium in 2 cross-sectional studies. The International Study of Macro- and Micro-Nutrients and Blood Pressure (INTERMAP) comprised 4,679 persons aged 40-59 years from 17 population samples in China, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and the International Cooperative Study on Salt, Other Factors, and Blood Pressure (INTERSALT) comprised 10,067 persons aged 20-59 years from 52 samples around the world.

Metabolome-wide association study identifies multiple biomarkers that discriminate north and south Chinese populations at differing risks of cardiovascular disease: INTERMAP study.

Rates of heart disease and stroke vary markedly between north and south China. A (1)H NMR spectroscopy-based metabolome-wide association approach was used to identify urinary metabolites that discriminate between southern and northern Chinese population samples, to investigate population biomarkers that might relate to the difference in cardiovascular disease risk. NMR spectra were acquired from two 24-h urine specimens per person for 523 northern and 244 southern Chinese participants in the INTERMAP Study of macro/micronutrients and blood pressure.

Dietary sources of sodium in China, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, women and men aged 40 to 59 years: the INTERMAP study.

Public health campaigns in several countries encourage population-wide reduced sodium (salt) intake, but excessive intake remains a major problem. Excessive sodium intake is independently related to adverse blood pressure and is a key factor in the epidemic of prehypertension/hypertension. Identification of food sources of sodium in modern diets is critical to effective reduction of sodium intake worldwide.

Glutamic acid, the main dietary amino acid, and blood pressure: the INTERMAP Study (International Collaborative Study of Macronutrients, Micronutrients and Blood Pressure).

Background: Data are available that indicate an independent inverse relationship of dietary vegetable protein to the blood pressure (BP) of individuals. Here, we assess whether BP is associated with glutamic acid intake (the predominant dietary amino acid, especially in vegetable protein) and with each of 4 other amino acids that are relatively higher in vegetable than animal protein (proline, phenylalanine, serine, and cystine).

Methods And Results: This was a cross-sectional epidemiological study with 4680 persons 40 to 59 years of age from 17 random population samples in China, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Relationship of dietary linoleic acid to blood pressure. The International Study of Macro-Micronutrients and Blood Pressure Study [corrected].

Findings from observational and interventional studies on the relationship of dietary linoleic acid, the main dietary polyunsaturated fatty acid, with blood pressure have been inconsistent. The International Study of Macro-Micronutrients and Blood Pressure is an international cross-sectional epidemiological study of 4680 men and women ages 40 to 59 years from 17 population samples in China, Japan, United Kingdom, and United States. We report associations of linoleic acid intake of individuals with their blood pressure.

Human metabolic phenotype diversity and its association with diet and blood pressure.

Metabolic phenotypes are the products of interactions among a variety of factors-dietary, other lifestyle/environmental, gut microbial and genetic. We use a large-scale exploratory analytical approach to investigate metabolic phenotype variation across and within four human populations, based on 1H NMR spectroscopy. Metabolites discriminating across populations are then linked to data for individuals on blood pressure, a major risk factor for coronary heart disease and stroke (leading causes of mortality worldwide).

Dietary phosphorus and blood pressure: international study of macro- and micro-nutrients and blood pressure.

Raised blood pressure is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide; improved nutritional approaches to population-wide prevention are required. Few data are available on dietary phosphorus and blood pressure and none are available on possible combined effects of phosphorus, magnesium, and calcium on blood pressure. The International Study of Macro- and Micro-Nutrients and Blood Pressure is a cross-sectional epidemiologic study of 4680 men and women ages 40 to 59 from 17 population samples in Japan, China, United Kingdom, and United States.

Patterns and trends of pancreatic cancer mortality rates in Arkansas, 1969-2002: a comparison with the US population.

Little is known about trends in pancreatic cancer mortality in individual states of the US and its whole population. This study aimed to describe the patterns and trends of pancreatic cancer mortality in Arkansas, 1969-2002, using the US national rates as a reference. Joinpoint regression analyses were performed to evaluate trends in age-standardized mortality rates of pancreatic cancer by age group, sex, and race, using data obtained from the National Center for Health Statistics.

Differences in breast cancer mortality worldwide: unsolved problems.

Breast cancer mortality remains a major cause of female mortality. Between 1970 and 2000 both important increases and decreases in breast cancer mortality rates occurred. Large differences in breast cancer mortality exist among countries worldwide.

Association between protein intake and blood pressure: the INTERMAP Study.

Background: Findings from epidemiological studies suggest an inverse relationship between individuals' protein intake and their blood pressure.

Methods: Cross-sectional epidemiological study of 4680 persons, aged 40 to 59 years, from 4 countries. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure was measured 8 times at 4 visits.

Milk consumption in relation to incidence of prostate, breast, colon, and rectal cancers: is there an independent effect?

Milk contains a wide variety of ingredients, such as nutrients, hormones, and chemical contaminants. Whether milk consumption is associated with the risk of prostate, breast, colon, and rectal cancers is unclear and was evaluated in this study. Data on milk consumption for 9 time periods (1964-1994) and incidence rates of prostate, female breast, colon, and rectal cancers, mostly around 1993-1997, in 38 countries were obtained from the Food and Agriculture Organization and World Health Organization, respectively.

Dynamics of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in Western and Eastern Europe between 1970 and 2000.

Aims: Important changes in cardiovascular and all-cause mortality rates are occurring in Western and Eastern Europe, each with their own dynamics. Differences in trends will be analysed and possible causes are discussed.

Methods And Results: Mortality data for cardiovascular and all-cause mortality rates from different countries were obtained from WHO and were analysed for the period 1970-2000.

On the relationship between all-cause, cardiovascular, cancer and residual mortality rates with age.

Background: The existence of a highly significant linear relationship between the natural logarithm (ln) all-cause mortality rate and age at the population level is firmly established (r>0.99). The slope and intercept of the equation, however, vary markedly between populations.

On the sex ratio of mortality: evolution during the period 1970-1999.

In the industrialized world large differences between male and female age-specific mortality rates exist, favouring the female sex.These differences vary over time and depend on the type of disease. This study intends to define the problem by determining the male/female (M/F) ratio of mortality for different disease groups and 2 time periods, 1970 and 1999.

Relation of nutrient intake to microalbuminuria in nondiabetic middle-aged men and women: International Population Study on Macronutrients and Blood Pressure (INTERMAP).

Background: Microalbuminuria (MA) is a risk factor for cardiovascular and renal disease. However, little is known about the relation of nutritional factors to MA, especially in individuals without diabetes.

Methods: Data collected by the International Population Study on Macronutrients and Blood Pressure from 1997 to 1999 were used to assess relations of multiple dietary factors (energy intake, macronutrients, and micronutrients) independent of lifestyle-related cardiovascular risk factors to MA (urinary albumin excretion, 30 to <300 mg/24 h).

Evaluation of measures of urinary albumin excretion in epidemiologic studies.

Twenty-four-hour urinary albumin excretion (UAE) is considered the gold standard for determining albumin level in epidemiologic studies, but this measure is inconvenient and often unavailable. Simpler alternatives include the albumin:creatinine ratio (ACR) and urinary albumin concentration (UAC) obtained from a single sample. The authors assessed the strengths and weaknesses of ACR and UAC as alternatives to UAE using albumin measurements from two 24-hour urine samples collected in 1996-1999 from 4,678 participants aged 40-59 years in the International Study of Macronutrients and Blood Pressure (17 population samples from four countries).

Estimating laboratory precision of urinary albumin excretion and other urinary measures in the International Study on Macronutrients and Blood Pressure.

Microalbuminuria is a risk factor for renal failure, stroke, and cardiovascular disease. However, estimating laboratory precision for albumin excretion is problematic because of its highly skewed distribution and the presence of values below assay detection limits. The authors used 781 quality control pairs from 24-hour urine samples collected between 1996 and 1999 in the International Study on Macronutrients and Blood Pressure (INTERMAP) to compare percentage of technical error (%TE), the usual estimate of laboratory precision, with the mean and median values of within-pair coefficients of variation (CVs) for urinary albumin concentration and other urinary variables.