Community coalition-driven interventions to reduce health disparities among racial and ethnic minority populations.

Background: Racial and ethnic disparities in health status are pervasive at all stages of the life cycle. One approach to reducing health disparities involves mobilizing community coalitions that include representatives of target populations to plan and implement interventions for community level change. A systematic examination of coalition-led interventions is needed to inform decision making about the use of community coalition models.

Structural and functional vascular alterations and incident hypertension in normotensive adults: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

Vascular abnormalities may exist before clinical hypertension. Using Poisson regression, the authors studied the association of coronary artery calcium (CAC), common carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), aortic distensibility, and large and small arterial elasticity with incident hypertension among 2,512 normotensive US adults free of cardiovascular disease. Incidence rate ratios for incident hypertension (blood pressure > or =140/90 mm Hg or new antihypertensive medication) were calculated.

Incidence and progression of coronary calcification in chronic kidney disease: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

We studied the incidence and progression of coronary artery calcification in people with early chronic kidney disease. We used a cohort of 562 adult patients with chronic kidney disease who had an estimated glomerular filtration rate of <60 ml/min/1.73 m(2), in a community-based study of people without clinical cardiovascular disease, the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

Serum phosphorus concentrations and arterial stiffness among individuals with normal kidney function to moderate kidney disease in MESA.

Background And Objectives: Higher phosphorus levels are associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) events and mortality. Whether vascular stiffness may be responsible is unknown.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: This study examined the cross-sectional associations of serum phosphorus with ankle brachial index (ABI), pulse pressure, and large and small artery elasticity by radial artery waveform analysis among 1370 individuals (440 with moderate chronic kidney disease) who did not have clinical CVD and participated in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

Association of serum phosphate with vascular and valvular calcification in moderate CKD.

Within the normal range, higher serum phosphate concentrations are associated with cardiovascular events and mortality in individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and in those with normal kidney function. Experimental models suggest that phosphate has a direct calcifying effect on vascular smooth muscle. We examined associations of serum phosphate concentrations with vascular and valvular calcification in 439 participants from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis who had moderate CKD and no clinical cardiovascular disease.

Coffee consumption and the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus.

Background: Coffee consumption has been associated with a decreased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus. We examined the relationship between coffee consumption and the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus [GDM].

Methods: In this prospective study, 1744 non-diabetic pregnant women were questioned during early gestation about their coffee consumption.

Migraine headaches and preeclampsia: an epidemiologic review.

Objective: To summarize and evaluate available empirical research on the relationship between migraines and gestational hypertension or preeclampsia and to provide direction for future research in this area.

Background: Migraines affect a substantial proportion of reproductive-aged women and have been associated with cardiovascular risk factors and ischemic disease in this population. Preeclampsia is a vascular disorder of pregnancy, also linked to adverse cardiovascular outcomes.

Risk of preeclampsia in relation to maternal history of migraine headaches.

Objective: We examined the relationship between migraines and preeclampsia risk.

Study Design: Cases were 244 women with preeclampsia and controls were 470 normotensive women. Women were asked if a physician had ever told them that they had migraines.