Physical Activity and Lipid Profile in the ELSA- Brasil Study.

Background: Regular physical activity (PA) induces desirable changes in plasma levels of high- and low-density lipoproteins (HDL and LDL, respectively) and triglycerides (TG), important risk factors for cardiometabolic diseases. However, doubts whether intensity and duration have equivalent benefits remain.

Objective: To assess the association of PA intensity and duration with HDL, LDL and TG levels.

[Design and implementation of the ELSA-Brasil biobank: a prospective study in a Brazilian population].

The Brazilian Longitudinal Study for Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil) is a multicenter prospective cohort of civil servants designed to assess the determinants of chronic diseases, especially cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes. The present article describes the main design and implementation points of the ELSA-Brasil biobank project. Economic, political, logistical and technological aspects of this study are characterized.

Design and baseline characteristics of a coronary heart disease prospective cohort: two-year experience from the strategy of registry of acute coronary syndrome study (ERICO study).

Objectives: To describe the ERICO study (Strategy of Registry of Acute Coronary Syndrome), a prospective cohort to investigate the epidemiology of acute coronary syndrome.

Methods: The ERICO study, which is being performed at a secondary general hospital in São Paulo, Brazil, is enrolling consecutive acute coronary syndrome patients who are 35 years old or older. The sociodemographic information, medical assessments, treatment data and blood samples are collected at admission.

Early and one-year stroke case fatality in Sao Paulo, Brazil: applying the World Health Organization's stroke STEPS.

Case fatality rate is considered a main determinant of stroke mortality trends. We applied the World Health Organization's Stroke STEPS to identify case fatality rates in a community hospital in Brazil. We evaluated all patients with first-ever stroke seeking acute care at the hospital's emergency ward between April 2006 and December 2008 to verify early and late case fatality according to stroke subtype.

A stepwise approach to stroke surveillance in Brazil: the EMMA (Estudo de Mortalidade e Morbidade do Acidente Vascular Cerebral) study.

Background: Stroke mortality rates in Brazil are the highest in the Americas. Deaths from cerebrovascular disease surpass coronary heart disease.

Aim: To verify stroke mortality rates and morbidity in an area of São Paulo, Brazil, using the World Health Organization Stepwise Approach to Stroke Surveillance.