Exposure to parental smoking and cardiac structure and function in adulthood: the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The relationship between childhood tobacco smoke exposure and cardiac structure and function in midlife is unclear. We investigated the association between parental smoking with cardiac structure and function in adulthood. METHODS: 1250 participants (56.5% female) from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study who had data on parental smoking and/or serum cotinine, a biomarker of exposure to tobacco smoke, at baseline 1980 (age 3-18 years) and echocardiography performed in 2011. Parental smoking hygiene (i.e., smoking in the vicinity of children) was categorized by parental smoking and serum cotinine levels in offspring. Dimensions of the left ventricle, diastolic and systolic function, and cardiac remodeling were used as outcomes. Analyses were adjusted for sex, age, and covariates (blood pressure (BP), serum lipids, body mass index, socioeconomic status, smoking (only in adulthood)) in childhood and adulthood. RESULTS: Parental smoking was not associated with systolic or diastolic function in adulthood. Participants exposed to parental smoking (odds ratio (OR) 1.90, 95%CI 1.23-2.92), hygienic parental smoking (OR 1.74, 95%CI 1.12-2.71), and non-hygienic parental smoking (OR 1.88, 95%CI 1.02-3.45) had higher odds of concentric remodeling (relative wall thickness >85th sex-specific percentile without left ventricular hypertrophy). These associations were attenuated after adjustment for child and adult covariates in the non-hygienic parental smoking group. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to parental smoking in childhood was associated with a higher likelihood of concentric remodeling and thicker left ventricular and interventricular septal walls in midlife, which was not improved by parents who smoked hygienically. Parental smoking was not related to systolic or diastolic function in this relatively young population.

Association between Number of Siblings and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Childhood and in Adulthood: The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the association of number of siblings on cardiovascular risk factors in childhood and in adulthood. STUDY DESIGN: In total, 3554 participants (51% female) from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study with cardiovascular disease risk factor data at baseline 1980 (age 3-18 years) and 2491 participants with longitudinal risk factor data at the 2011 follow-up. Participants were categorized by number of siblings at baseline (0, 1, or more than 1). Risk factors (body mass index, physical activity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and overweight, and metabolic syndrome) in childhood and in adulthood were used as outcomes. Analyses were adjusted for age and sex. RESULTS: In childhood, participants without siblings had higher body mass index (18.2 kg/m2, 95% CI 18.0-18.3) than those with 1 sibling (17.9 kg/m2, 95% CI 17.8-18.0) or more than 1 sibling (17.8 kg/m2, 95% CI 17.7-17.9). Childhood physical activity index was lower among participants without siblings (SD -0.08, 95% CI -0.16-0.00) compared with participants with 1 sibling (SD 0.06, 95%CI 0.01-0.11) or more than 1 sibling (SD -0.02, 95% CI -0.07-0.03). OR for adulthood hypertension was lower among participants with 1 sibling (OR 0.73, 95% CI 0.54-0.98) and more than 1 sibling (OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.52-0.97) compared with participants with no siblings. OR for obesity was lower among participants with 1 sibling (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.54-0.95) and more than 1 sibling (OR 0.75, 95% CI 0.56-1.01) compared with those with no siblings. CONCLUSIONS: Children without siblings had poorer cardiovascular risk factor levels in childhood and in adulthood. The number of siblings could help identify individuals at increased risk that might benefit from early intervention.

Childhood Exposure to Parental Smoking and Midlife Cognitive Function.

We studied whether exposure to parental smoking in childhood/adolescence is associated with midlife cognitive function, leveraging data from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. A population-based cohort of 3,596 children/adolescents aged 3-18 years was followed between 1980 and 2011. In 2011, cognitive testing was performed on 2,026 participants aged 34-49 years using computerized testing. Measures of secondhand smoke exposure in childhood/adolescence consisted of parental self-reports of smoking and participants' serum cotinine levels. Participants were classified into 3 exposure groups: 1) no exposure (nonsmoking parents, cotinine <1.0 ng/mL); 2) hygienic parental smoking (1-2 smoking parents, cotinine <1.0 ng/mL); and 3) nonhygienic parental smoking (1-2 smoking parents, cotinine ≥1.0 ng/mL). Analyses adjusted for sex, age, family socioeconomic status, polygenic risk score for cognitive function, adolescent/adult smoking, blood pressure, and serum total cholesterol level. Compared with the nonexposed, participants exposed to nonhygienic parental smoking were at higher risk of poor (lowest quartile) midlife episodic memory and associative learning (relative risk (RR) = 1.38, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.08, 1.75), and a weak association was found for short-term and spatial working memory (RR = 1.25, 95% CI: 0.98, 1.58). Associations for those exposed to hygienic parental smoking were nonsignificant (episodic memory and associative learning: RR = 1.19, 95% CI: 0.92, 1.54; short-term and spatial working memory: RR = 1.10, 95% CI: 0.85, 1.34). We conclude that avoiding childhood/adolescence secondhand smoke exposure promotes adulthood cognitive function.

Association of number of siblings with preclinical markers of cardiovascular disease. The cardiovascular risk in Young Finns study.

To investigate the association of number of siblings with preclinical cardiovascular disease (CVD) markers in adulthood. The sample comprised 2776 participants (54 % female) from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study who had CVD risk factor data measured in childhood in 1980 (aged 3-18 years) and markers of preclinical CVD measured in adulthood. Echocardiography was performed in 2011, and carotid intima-media thickness, carotid distensibility, brachial flow-mediated dilatation, and arterial pulse wave velocity were measured in 2001 or 2007. The association between the number of siblings and preclinical CVD was assessed using generalized linear and logistic regression models. Analyses were stratified by sex as associations differed between sexes. Women with 1 sibling had lower E/e'-ratio (4.9, [95%CI 4.8-5.0]) in echocardiography compared with those without siblings (5.1[4.9-5.2]) and those with ≥2 more siblings (5.1[5.0-5.2]) (P for trend 0.01). Men without siblings had the lowest E/A-ratio (1.4[1.3-1.5]) compared with those with 1 sibling (1.5[1.5-1.5]), or ≥2 siblings (1.5[1.5-1.5]) (P for trend 0.01). Women without siblings had highest left ventricular ejection fraction (59.2 %[58.6-59.7 %]) compared with those with 1 sibling (59.1 %[58.8-59.4 %]), or ≥2 siblings (58.4 %[58.1-58.8 %])(P for trend 0.01). In women, brachial flow-mediated dilatation, a measure of endothelial function, was the lowest among participants with ≥2 siblings (9.4 %[9.0-9.8 %]) compared with those with 1 sibling (10.0 %[9.6-10.3 %]) and those without siblings (10.4 %[9.7-11.0 %])(P for trend 0.03). We observed that number of siblings may be associated with increased risk of heart failure in women. As the associations were somewhat inconsistent in males and females, further research is warranted.