Publications by authors named "Xuan-Mai Nguyen"
Importance: The American Heart Association proposed Life's Essential 8 (LE8) as an enhanced measurement tool for cardiovascular health.
Objective: To examine the association of LE8 with risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) incidence and prognosis in veterans.
Design, Setting, And Participants: This was a prospective cohort study of US veterans enrolled in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Million Veteran Program (MVP) between 2011 and 2022.
Background: Dietary quality plays an important role in disease development and prognosis, and diet is also a key contributor to disparities in many chronic diseases and health conditions.
Objectives: This study aimed to assess racial and ethnic disparities experienced by veterans; we examined food intake and dietary quality across different racial and ethnic groups of United States veterans.
Methods: The study included 420,730 males and females aged 19-107 y (91.
Background: Though the epidemiology of craniomaxillofacial (CMF) fractures has been well documented at urban hospitals, the characteristics of these fractures in rural hospitals have not been well studied.
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to report on the epidemiology of CMF fractures at a regional Level 1 trauma center serving a large rural population in central Illinois.
Study Design, Setting, Sample: This is a retrospective cohort study at a community-based regional tertiary referral center that serves a predominantly rural population.
Introduction: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Million Veteran Program (MVP) nutrition data is derived from dietary food/beverage intake information collected through a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire (SFFQ).
Methods: Estimates of dietary energy, nutrient, and non-nutritive food components intakes data were derived from an extensively validated SFFQ, which assessed the habitual frequency of consumption of 61 food items, added sugar, fried food frequency, and 21 nutritional supplements over the 12 months preceding questionnaire administration.
Results: Complete nutrition data was available for 353,418 MVP participants as of 30 September 2021.
Plant-based diets and the incidence of cardiovascular disease: the Million Veteran Program.
BMJ Nutr Prev Health
December 2023
Article Synopsis
- A plant-based diet, particularly one that includes healthier foods, is linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among US veterans.
- The study involved over 148,000 veterans and found that those with better plant-based dietary patterns were less likely to develop conditions like myocardial infarction and stroke over an 8-year follow-up.
- Specifically, healthier plant-based diets corresponded with a 29% reduced risk of CVD, while unhealthful plant-based diets increased the risk by 12%.
The Million Veteran Program 1990-1991 Gulf War Era Survey: An Evaluation of Veteran Response, Characteristics, and Representativeness of the Gulf War Era Veteran Population.
Int J Environ Res Public Health
January 2024
To address gaps in understanding the pathophysiology of Gulf War Illness (GWI), the VA Million Veteran Program (MVP) developed and implemented a survey to MVP enrollees who served in the U.S. military during the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War (GW).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Red meat consumption was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in prospective cohort studies and a profile of biomarkers favoring high CVD risk in short-term controlled trials. However, several recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses concluded with no or weak evidence for limiting red meat intake.
Objectives: To prospectively examine the associations between red meat intake and incident CVD in an ongoing cohort study with diverse socioeconomic and racial or ethnic backgrounds.
Background: Lifestyle medicine has been proposed as a way to address the root causes of chronic disease and their associated health care costs.
Objective: This study aimed to estimate mortality risk and longevity associated with individual lifestyle factors and comprehensive lifestyle therapy.
Methods: Age- and sex-specific mortality rates were calculated on the basis of 719,147 veterans aged 40-99 y enrolled in the Veteran Affairs Million Veteran Program (2011-2019).
Background: Patients undergoing postoncologic breast reconstruction can experience upper extremity (UE) functional deficits.
Objectives: In this study, we utilized the disabilities of the arm, shoulder, and hand (DASH) questionnaire to identify patient factors that impacted UE functional recovery.
Methods: Patients who underwent oncologic followed by reconstructive surgery by a single surgeon from 2014 to 2019 and completed the DASH survey were included.
Article Synopsis
- The study examines the relationship between blood cholesterol levels and coronary heart disease (CHD) risk among over 4 million veterans, exploring claims of a U-shaped association.
- Findings reveal a J-shaped relationship, indicating that while lower cholesterol levels (below 180 mg/dL) show flat CHD mortality risk, higher cholesterol levels significantly increase this risk.
- The results support the lipid hypothesis, suggesting that lower cholesterol is linked to reduced CHD risk, especially highlighting that low cholesterol due to medication does not alter this association.
Article Synopsis
- Atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (ASCVDs) are a leading cause of death globally, and this study aimed to clarify how different types of dietary fats affect ASCVD risk.
- Researchers analyzed dietary habits of 158,198 participants in the Million Veteran Program who were free of ASCVD at the start, tracking health outcomes over time.
- Their findings showed that higher intake of specific trans-fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acids increased the risk of ASCVD, while a higher intake of cis-polyunsaturated fatty acids was linked to a lower risk, suggesting that not all fats equally influence heart health.
Background: Although recent large randomized clinical trials have reported an increased risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) with marine ω-3 fatty acid supplements, it is unclear whether dietary marine ω-3 fatty acids assessed through food frequency questionnaires are associated with AF risk.
Objectives: We sought to test the hypothesis that dietary eicosapentaenoic acid/docosahexaenoic acid/docosapentaecnoic acid (EPA/DHA/DPA) is associated with a higher risk of AF in a large prospective cohort of US Veterans.
Methods: We analyzed data from Million Veteran Program participants who completed self-reported food frequency questionnaires.
Background: Ensuring enhanced delivery of care to women Veterans is a top Veterans Affairs (VA) priority; however, women are historically underrepresented in research that informs evidence-based health care. A primary barrier to women's participation is the inability to engage with research in person due to a number of documented challenges. The VA Million Veteran Program (MVP) is committed to increasing access for women Veterans to participate in research, thereby better understanding conditions specific to this population and how disease manifests differently in women compared to men.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFElevated body mass index (BMI) is heritable and associated with many health conditions that impact morbidity and mortality. The study of the genetic association of BMI across a broad range of common disease conditions offers the opportunity to extend current knowledge regarding the breadth and depth of adiposity-related diseases. We identify 906 (364 novel) and 41 (6 novel) genome-wide significant loci for BMI among participants of European (N~1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The study aims to identify genetic factors linked to ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) and their relation to cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes using data from the Veteran Administration Million Veteran Program.
- An ideal health score (IHS) was calculated from clinical factors like blood pressure and cholesterol, and behavioral factors like smoking and physical activity, and analyzed through genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and a polygenic risk score (PRSIHS).
- Results showed that only 4.2% of participants had ideal CVH, but higher PRSIHS scores were linked to lower odds of CVD outcomes and mortality, indicating that certain genetic variants significantly influence CVH in this diverse group of US Veterans.
Article Synopsis
- A study involving over 94,000 COVID-19 cases developed an algorithm to connect COVID-19 severity with long-term health complications like stroke, heart attacks, and death.* -
- It found that the risk of these complications is higher for patients with severe COVID-19, especially within the first 120 days after infection, with most issues occurring within the first two months.* -
- The research highlights the importance of understanding how COVID-19 severity affects long-term health, which can help in planning prevention and treatment strategies.*
Background: In response to the novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Million Veteran Program (MVP) organized efforts to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on Veterans by developing and deploying a self-reported survey.
Methods: The MVP COVID-19 Survey was developed to collect COVID-19 specific elements including symptoms, diagnosis, hospitalization, behavioral and psychosocial factors and to augment existing MVP data with longitudinal collection of key domains in physical and mental health. Due to the rapidly evolving nature of the pandemic, a multipronged strategy was implemented to widely disseminate the COVID-19 Survey and capture data using both the online platform and mailings.
Objective: To examine the association between adherence to plant-based diets and mortality.
Design: Prospective study. We calculated a plant-based diet index (PDI) by assigning positive scores to plant foods and reverse scores to animal foods.
Objective: To examine the association between intakes of sodium and potassium and the ratio of sodium to potassium and incident myocardial infarction and stroke. Design, Setting and Participants: Prospective cohort study of 180,156 Veterans aged 19 to 107 years with plausible dietary intake measured by food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) who were free of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer at baseline in the VA Million Veteran Program (MVP). Main outcome measures: CVD defined as non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI) or acute ischemic stroke (AIS) ascertained using high-throughput phenotyping algorithms applied to electronic health records.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn association between age-related hearing loss (ARHL) and Alzheimer's Disease (AD) has been widely reported. However, the nature of this relationship remains poorly understood. Quantification of hearing loss as it relates to AD is imperative for the creation of reliable, hearing-related biomarkers for earlier diagnosis and development of ARHL treatments that may slow the progression of AD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: Frailty is associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular (CV) events. Limited data exist from the modern era of CV prevention on the relationship between frailty and CV mortality. We hypothesized that frailty is associated with an increased risk of CV mortality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCardiovascular disease (CVD), including stroke and coronary artery disease (CAD), is the major cause of mortality for Americans. Nuts have been shown to improve a variety of cardiovascular disease risk factors. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that nut consumption is inversely associated with risk of incidence of stroke, CAD, and CVD mortality in the prospective Million Veterans Program (MVP).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Although previous studies have suggested cocoa products may promote cardiovascular health in the general population, no public data are available from patients receiving care in a national integrated health care system.
Objectives: We tested the hypothesis that regular chocolate consumption is associated with a lower risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) events among participants of the Million Veteran Program (MVP). Secondary analysis examined if the main hypothesis was observed among participants with type 2 diabetes.
Article Synopsis
- * Findings indicate that higher yogurt intake is associated with increased levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC) and lower triglyceride levels, especially in those not taking cholesterol-lowering medications.
- * These benefits appear specific to yogurt, as they were not observed with the consumption of milk or cheese, suggesting yogurt has unique effects on lipid concentrations.