Association Between Depressive Symptoms and Cardiac Structure and Function in a Peruvian Population.

Depressive disorders are a leading cause of disability and are globally pervasive. It is estimated that 80% of depression occurs in low-income and middle-income countries. Depression is associated with worse outcomes in patients with cardiac disease including heart failure (HF); however, mechanistic understanding to explain heightened risk in HF remains poorly characterized.

Guidance to Reduce the Cardiovascular Burden of Ambient Air Pollutants: A Policy Statement From the American Heart Association.

In 2010, the American Heart Association published a statement concluding that the existing scientific evidence was consistent with a causal relationship between exposure to fine particulate matter and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, and that fine particulate matter exposure is a modifiable cardiovascular risk factor. Since the publication of that statement, evidence linking air pollution exposure to cardiovascular health has continued to accumulate and the biological processes underlying these effects have become better understood. This increasingly persuasive evidence necessitates policies to reduce harmful exposures and the need to act even as the scientific evidence base continues to evolve.

Occupational Exposures and Cardiac Structure and Function: ECHO-SOL (Echocardiographic Study of Latinos).

Background Our objective was to determine associations of occupational exposures with cardiac structure and function in Hispanic/Latino adults. Methods and Results Employed participants were included (n=782; 52% women, mean age 52.9 years).

Financial strain and ideal cardiovascular health in middle-aged and older women: Data from the Women's health study.

Unlabelled: Financial strain is a prevalent form of psychosocial stress in the United States; however, information about the relationship between financial strain and cardiovascular health remains sparse, particularly in older women.

Methods: The cross-sectional association between financial strain and ideal cardiovascular health were examined in the Women's Health Study follow-up cohort (N = 22,048; mean age = 72± 6.0 years).

Cumulative Psychosocial Stress and Ideal Cardiovascular Health in Older Women.

Background: Research implicates acute and chronic stressors in racial/ethnic health disparities, but the joint impact of multiple stressors on racial/ethnic disparities in cardiovascular health is unknown.

Methods: In 25 062 women (24 053 white; 256 Hispanic; 440 black; 313 Asian) articipating in the Women's Health Study follow-up cohort, we examined the relationship between cumulative psychosocial stress (CPS) and ideal cardiovascular health (ICH), as defined by the American Heart Association's 2020 strategic Impact Goals. This health metric includes smoking, body mass index, physical activity, diet, blood pressure, total cholesterol, and glucose, with higher levels indicating more ICH and less cardiovascular risk (score range, 0-7).

Childhood and adult exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke and cardiac structure and function: results from Echo-SOL.

Objective: To describe the relationship of household secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure and cardiac structure and function.

Methods: Participants (n=1069; 68 % female; age 45-74 years) without history of tobacco use, coronary artery disease or severe valvular disease were included. Past childhood (starting at age <13 years), adolescent/adult and current exposure to household SHS was assessed.

Cardiac structure and function with and without metabolic syndrome: the Echocardiographic Study of Latinos (Echo-SOL).

Objective: We assessed the hypothesis that metabolic syndrome is associated with adverse changes in cardiac structure and function in participants of the Echocardiographic Study of Latinos (Echo-SOL).

Methods: Non-diabetic Echo-SOL participants were included in this cross-sectional analysis. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the American Heart Association/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute 2009 Joint Scientific Statement.

Pulmonary function and adverse cardiovascular outcomes: Can cardiac function explain the link?

Background: The complex interaction between pulmonary function, cardiac function and adverse cardiovascular events has only been partially described. We sought to describe the association between pulmonary function with left heart structure and function, all-cause mortality and incident cardiovascular hospitalization.

Methods: This study is a retrospective analysis of patients evaluated in a single tertiary care medical center.

Environmental Exposures and Cardiovascular Disease: A Challenge for Health and Development in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Environmental exposures in low- and middle-income countries lie at the intersection of increased economic development and the rising public health burden of cardiovascular disease. Increasing evidence suggests an association of exposure to ambient air pollution, household air pollution from biomass fuel, lead, arsenic, and cadmium with multiple cardiovascular disease outcomes, including hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, and cardiovascular mortality. Although populations in low- and middle-income countries are disproportionately exposed to environmental pollution, evidence linking these exposures to cardiovascular disease is derived from populations in high-income countries.

Distribution of Short-Term and Lifetime Predicted Risks of Cardiovascular Diseases in Peruvian Adults.

Background: Short-term risk assessment tools for prediction of cardiovascular disease events are widely recommended in clinical practice and are used largely for single time-point estimations; however, persons with low predicted short-term risk may have higher risks across longer time horizons.

Methods And Results: We estimated short-term and lifetime cardiovascular disease risk in a pooled population from 2 studies of Peruvian populations. Short-term risk was estimated using the atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease Pooled Cohort Risk Equations.

Migration, urbanisation and mortality: 5-year longitudinal analysis of the PERU MIGRANT study.

Objective: To compare all-cause and cause-specific mortality among 3 distinct groups: within-country, rural-to-urban migrants, and rural and urban dwellers in a longitudinal cohort in Peru.

Methods: The PERU MIGRANT Study, a longitudinal cohort study, used an age-stratified and sex-stratified random sample of urban dwellers in a shanty town community in the capital city of Peru, rural dwellers in the Andes, and migrants from the Andes to the shanty town community. Participants underwent a questionnaire and anthropomorphic measurements at a baseline evaluation in 2007-2008 and at a follow-up visit in 2012-2013.

Relationship between daily exposure to biomass fuel smoke and blood pressure in high-altitude Peru.

Household air pollution from biomass fuel use affects 3 billion people worldwide; however, few studies have examined the relationship between biomass fuel use and blood pressure. We sought to determine if daily biomass fuel use was associated with elevated blood pressure in high altitude Peru and if this relationship was affected by lung function. We analyzed baseline information from a population-based cohort study of adults aged ≥ 35 years in Puno, Peru.

Usefulness for surveillance of hypertension prevalence studies in Latin America and the Caribbean: the past 10 years.

Objective: To compare the usefulness for surveillance of the peer-reviewed literature on the prevalence of hypertension in Latin America and the Caribbean published from 2001 to 2010 with a previous study of the published literature from 1962 to 2000.

Methods: A bibliographic search was conducted of publications from 2001 to 2010 that examined the prevalence of hypertension using MEDLINE and LILACS databases. The methodology of each paper was evaluated with the same critical appraisal tool used in the previous study.

Lifestyle risk factors and cardiovascular disease in cubans and cuban americans.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality in Cuba. Lifestyle risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) in Cubans have not been compared to risk factors in Cuban Americans. Articles spanning the last 20 years were reviewed.