Riskard 2005. New tools for prediction of cardiovascular disease risk derived from Italian population studies.

Background And Aim: The need to update tools for the estimate of cardiovascular risk prompted the "Gruppo di Ricerca per la Stima del Rischio Cardiovascolare in Italia" to produce a new chart and new software called Riskard 2005.

Methods And Results: Data from 9 population studies in 8 Italian regions, for a grand total of 17,153 subjects (12,045 men and 5,108 women) aged 35-74 and for a total exposure of about 194,000 person/years were available. A chart for the estimate of cardiovascular risk (major coronary, cerebrovascular and peripheral artery disease events) in 10 years was produced for men and women aged 45-74 free from cardiovascular diseases.

The risk functions incorporated in Riscard 2002: a software for the prediction of cardiovascular risk in the general population based on Italian data.

Background: The purpose of this analysis was to produce risk functions for the prediction of cardiovascular diseases based on Italian epidemiological data and suitable for the use in a PC program dedicated to the estimate of risk.

Methods: Three studies were used for the purpose: the Italian Rural Areas of the Seven Countries Study, the Gubbio Population Study and the ECCIS study, for a total of 9771 men and women aged 35 to 74 years and followed for a period lasting 5 to 6 years. The risk factors used for the prediction of cardiovascular events were sex, age, body mass index (derived from height and weight), mean blood pressure (derived from systolic and diastolic blood pressures), non-HDL cholesterol (derived from total and HDL cholesterol), HDL cholesterol, diabetes (yes-no), heart rate, and daily cigarette consumption.

An Italian chart for cardiovascular risk prediction. Its scientific basis.

A risk chart for primary prediction of major coronary and cerebrovascular events based on Italian population data was created. Material from three Italian population studies was available: the Italian Rural Areas of the Seven Countries Study (no. 1712), the Gubbio Study (no.

Effects of oral alendronate and intranasal salmon calcitonin on bone mass and biochemical markers of bone turnover in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.

The main objective of this study was to determine the effect of daily oral alendronate treatment on bone mass in postmenopausal women affected by osteoporosis. The efficacy of intranasal salmon calcitonin was also examined. Nine centers in Italy enrolled 286 postmenopausal women between the ages of 48 and 76 with spinal bone mineral density > or = 2 SD below adult mean peak in the two-year, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

Treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis with continuous daily oral alendronate in comparison with either placebo or intranasal salmon calcitonin.

Alendronate sodium (ALN) is a potent amino bisphosphonate which specifically inhibits osteoclastic bone resorption and has been found to reverse bone loss in several animal models. To determine if daily oral ALN treatment could prevent or reverse bone loss in osteoporotic postmenopausal women, and to compare ALN to intranasal salmon calcitonin (CT), a 2-year, double-masked, randomized, placebo-controlled study was initiated at 9 clinical centers in Italy. Two hundred and eighty six postmenopausal women (age 48-76) with spinal bone mineral density (BMD) > or = 2 SD below adult mean peak, with or without vertebral crush fractures, were randomized to one of four treatment arms: ALN 10 mg daily, ALN 20 mg daily or matching placebo (these groups all double-masked), or CT 100 IU daily (open label) for 2 years.