Lifestyle risk factors and utilization of preventive services in disabled elderly adults in the community.

Lifestyle risk factor counseling and preventive health services are important to disabled elderly adults to prevent adverse health outcomes. We aimed to examine the prevalence of lifestyle risk factors and utilization of preventive health services in community-dwelling 2,982 adults, aged 60 years or older, with or without disability, in Southeastern Pennsylvania in 2004. The severity of disability was classified as no [independent activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL)], some (independent ADL, dependent IADL), and severe limitation (dependent ADL).

Prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in cardiovascular diseases (from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001 to 2004).

This cross-sectional study examined the burden of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) using serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) and prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in adults with CVDs using data from NHANES 2001 to 2004. Serum 25(OH)D levels were divided into 3 categories (> or =30, 20 to 29, and <20 ng/ml), and hypovitaminosis D was defined as vitamin D <30 ng/ml. Of 8,351 adults who had 25(OH)D measured, mean 25(OH)D was 24.

Does body mass index really matter in the management of heart failure?: a review of the literature.

Excess body weight increases the risk for many disorders including cardiovascular disease and such patients have a greater risk for developing heart failure (HF). Despite evidence demonstrating the adverse effects of excess weight, the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and mortality in HF patients remains controversial. Paradoxically, several large cohort studies have shown that overweight and obese HF patients seem to have better survival than their healthy weight counterparts.