Association between metabolic syndrome severity score and cardiovascular disease: results from a longitudinal cohort study on Chinese adults.

Objective: This study aimed to quantify the severity of metabolic syndrome(MetS) and investigate its association with cardiovascular disease(CVD) risk on Chinese adults. Methods: 13,500 participants from the Zhejiang Adult Chronic Disease Study were followed up between 2010 and 2021. A continuous MetS severity score derived from the five components of MetS was used to quantify MetS severity, and the association between MetS severity and the risk of incident CVD was assessed using Cox proportional hazard and restricted cubic spline regression. Results: Both the presence and severity of MetS were strongly associated with CVD risk. MetS was related to an increased risk of CVD (hazard ratio(HR):1.700, 95% confidence interval(CI): 1.380-2.094). Compared with the hazard ratio for CVD in the lowest quartile of the MetS severity score, that in the second, third, and highest quartiles were 1.812 (1.329-2.470), 1.746 (1.265-2.410), and 2.817 (2.015-3.938), respectively. A linear and positive dose-response relationship was observed between the MetS severity and CVD risk (P for non-linearity = 0.437). Similar results were found in various sensitivity analyses. Conclusion: The MetS severity score was significantly associated with CVD risk. Assessing MetS severity and further ensuring intervention measures according to the different severities of MetS may be more useful in preventing CVD.

Novel Therapeutic Potential of Retinoid-Related Orphan Receptor α in Cardiovascular Diseases.

The retinoid-related orphan receptor α (RORα) is one subfamily of nuclear hormone receptors (NRs). This review summarizes the understanding and potential effects of RORα in the cardiovascular system and then analyzes current advances, limitations and challenges, and further strategy for RORα-related drugs in cardiovascular diseases. Besides regulating circadian rhythm, RORα also influences a wide range of physiological and pathological processes in the cardiovascular system, including atherosclerosis, hypoxia or ischemia, myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury, diabetic cardiomyopathy, hypertension, and myocardial hypertrophy. In terms of mechanism, RORα was involved in the regulation of inflammation, apoptosis, autophagy, oxidative stress, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, and mitochondrial function. Besides natural ligands for RORα, several synthetic RORα agonists or antagonists have been developed. This review mainly summarizes protective roles and possible mechanisms of RORα against cardiovascular diseases. However, there are also several limitations and challenges of current research on RORα, especially the difficulties on the transformability from the bench to the bedside. By the aid of multidisciplinary research, breakthrough progress on RORα-related drugs to combat cardiovascular disorder may appear.

Cancer incidence and mortality in Zhejiang Province, Southeast China, 2016: a population-based study.

BACKGROUNDS: Cancer is one of the main causes of death worldwide, seriously threatening human health and life expectancy. We aimed to analyze the cancer incidence and mortality rates during 2016 in Zhejiang Province, Southeast China. METHODS: Data were collected from 14 population-based cancer registries across Zhejiang Province of China. Cancer incidence and mortality rates stratified by sex and region were analyzed. The crude rate, age-standardized rate, age-specific and region-specific rate, and cumulative rate were calculated. The proportions of 10 common cancers in different groups and the incidence and mortality rates of the top five cancers in different age groups were also calculated. The Chinese national census of 2000 and the world Segi population was used for calculating the age-standardized incidence and mortality rates. RESULTS: The 14 cancer registries covered a population of 14,250,844 individuals, accounting for 29.13% of the population of Zhejiang Province. The total reported cancer cases and deaths were 55,835 and 27,013, respectively. The proportion of morphological verification (MV%) was 78.95% of the population, and percentage of incident cases identified through death certificates only (DCO%) was 1.23% with a mortality-to-incidence ratio (M/I ratio) of 0.48. The crude incidence rate in Zhejiang cancer registration areas was 391.80/105; the age-standardized incidence rate of the Chinese standard population (ASIRC) and the age-standardized incidence rate of the world standard population (ASIRW) were 229.76/105 and 220.96/105, respectively. The incidence rate in men was higher than that in women. The incidence rate increased rapidly after 45 years of age and peaked in individuals aged 80 to 84 years. The top 10 incidence rates of cancers were lung cancer, female breast cancer, thyroid cancer, colorectal cancer, stomach cancer, liver cancer, prostate cancer, cervical cancer, esophageal cancer, and pancreatic cancer (from highest to lowest). The crude mortality rate in Zhejiang cancer registration areas was 189.55/105; the age-standardized mortality rate of the Chinese standard population (ASMRC) and the age-standardized mortality rate of the world standard population (ASMRW) were 94.46/105 and 93.42/105, respectively. The mortality rate in men was higher than that in women, and the male population in rural areas was higher than that in urban areas. The cancer mortality rate increased rapidly after 50 years of age and peaked in individuals aged 85+ years. The top 10 mortality rates of cancers were lung cancer, liver cancer, stomach cancer, colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, esophageal cancer, female breast cancer, prostate cancer, lymphoma, and leukemia (from highest to lowest). CONCLUSIONS: Lung cancer, female breast cancer, thyroid cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, liver cancer, and stomach cancer were the most common cancers in Zhejiang Province. Effective prevention and control measures should be established after considering the different characteristics of cancers in urban and rural areas.

The association between diabetes and thyroid cancer risk: a hospital-based case-control study in China.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have indicated inconsistent relationships of diabetes with thyroid cancer risk, yet little is known in China. In this study, we aimed to investigate the associations between diabetes, diabetes duration and the risk of thyroid cancer in Chinese population. METHODS: A 1:1 matched case-control study was performed between 2015 and 2017 in Zhejiang Province including 2,937 thyroid cancer cases and 2,937 healthy controls. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) for thyroid cancer were estimated in logistic regression models. Specific effects stratified by age, as well as sex, body mass index (BMI) and family history of diabetes were also examined. RESULTS: Overall, neither diabetes (OR = 0.75, 95 % CI: 0.21-2.73) nor diabetes duration (OR = 0.14, 95 % CI: 0.02-1.22 for diabetes duration ≦ 5 years; OR = 2.10, 95 % CI: 0.32-13.94 for diabetes duration > 5 years) was significantly associated with thyroid cancer. In stratified analyses, significant lower risk of thyroid cancer was observed among subjects with diabetes and shorter diabetes duration ( ≦ 5 years), but limited to those who were aged more than 40 years, female, overweight/obese and had positive family history of diabetes. CONCLUSIONS: Diabetes and shorter diabetes duration were significantly associated with decreased risk of thyroid cancer in individuals characterized by older age, female sex, higher BMI and positive family history of diabetes.

Sleep duration and behavioral correlates in middle and high school students: a cross-sectional study in Zhejiang province, China.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the sleep duration and correlates from lifestyle, dietary and weight control behaviors in Chinese adolescents. METHODS: Data were from 2017 Zhejiang Youth Risk Behavior Survey. A total of 17059 adolescents were included in this study and sleep duration and other behaviors information was collected via a self-reported questionnaire. Regression coefficients (ß), calculated by multivariable linear regression, were used to assess the effects of related behaviors on sleep duration, adjusting for potential confounding factors. RESULTS: Overall, the mean sleep duration in adolescents was 7.99 h. Ever smoking, engaging in moderate physical activity and muscle strengthening activity, attending physical education classes, and watching television were significantly associated with longer sleep duration (P trend ≦0.01 for all). Adolescents with breakfast, fruits, vegetables, milk and soft drinks intake were more likely to have longer sleep duration (P trend <0.05 for all). Weight perception of overweight and weight control behaviors including exercising and eating less food, fewer calories were significantly associated with the short sleep duration (P trend <0.05 for all). CONCLUSION: Chinese adolescents slept less than the counterparts in Western countries. Various lifestyle, dietary and weight control behaviors were associated with sleep duration.

Menstrual, reproductive and hormonal factors and thyroid cancer: a hospital-based case-control study in China.

BACKGROUND: There have been considerable studies on the effects of reproductive factors on thyroid cancer risk, while findings are inconsistent. In this analysis, we aimed to investigate the associations between menstrual, reproductive and hormonal factors with thyroid cancer occurrence in a population of Chinese women. METHODS: Using data from a 1:1 matched case-control study performed between 2015 and 2017 in Zhejiang Province of China, a second analysis of 2261 pairs of female subjects was conducted. The possible effects for thyroid cancer were evaluated in logistic regression models by odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: Later age at first pregnancy (for > 25 vs. ≦ 20 years, OR: 0.47, 95% CI 0.23-0.96) and longer duration of breast feeding (for 6-12 vs. ≦ 6 months, OR: 0.49, 95% CI 0.24-0.98) were significantly associated with decreased occurrence of thyroid cancer, while no trend was observed. Stratified by age at enrollment, only the association with duration of breast feeding remained significant, but limited to younger women (≦ 50 years). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggested that women with later age at first pregnancy or longer breast feeding duration were less likely to have thyroid cancer. These findings supported an influence role of reproductive factors in thyroid cancer risk.

Trends in prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus in Zhejiang Province, China, 2016-2018.

BACKGROUND: Limited population-based studies have investigated the secular trend of prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in mainland China. Therefore, this study aimed to estimate the prevalence of GDM and time trends in Chinese female population. METHODS: Based on Diabetes Surveillance System of Zhejiang Province, 97,063 diagnosed GDM cases aged 20-50 years were identified from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2018. Annual prevalence, prevalence rate ratios (PRRs) and average annual percentage change with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were reported. RESULTS: The age-standardized overall prevalence of GDM was reported to be 7.30% (95% CI 7.27-7.33%); 9.13% (95% CI 9.07-9.19%) in urban areas and 6.24% (95% CI 6.21-6.27%) in rural areas. Compared with 20-24 years age group, women in advanced age groups (25-50 years) were at higher risk for GDM (PRRs ranged from 1.37 to 8.95 and the 95% CIs did not include the null). Compared with rural areas, the risk for GDM was higher in urban areas (PRR: 1.69, 95% CI 1.67-1.72). The standardized annual prevalence increased from 6.02% in 2016 to 7.94% in 2018, with an average annual increase of 5.48%, and grew more rapidly in rural than urban areas (11.28% vs. 0.00%). CONCLUSIONS: This study suggested a significant increase in the prevalence of GDM among Chinese female population in Zhejiang province during 2016-2018, especially in women characterized by advanced age and rural areas.

Automated classification of ICD-O-3 morphology code from pathology reports using text-mining and support vector machine / 预防医学

Objective@#To evaluate the accuracy of automated classification of ICD-O-3 morphology code from pathology reports by text-mining and support vector machine ( SVM ) , in order to provide basis for automated tumor coding in Chinese. @*Methods@#The tumor report cards of Zhejiang residents from 2017 to 2019 were collected from Chronic Disease Surveillance Information Management System of Zhejiang Province. According to ICD-O-3, the keywords of the pathology reports were extracted, and SVM was used for automatic classification. The classification results were compared with those of 16 professionals with more than two years of experience in tumor coding, and the accuracy rate, recall rate and F-score were calculated for effect evaluation. @*Results@#Totally 83 082 cases from 2017 to 2019 were included and were categorized into 17 morphological classifications, with 52 877 ( 63.65% ) cases of adenocarcinoma, squamous carcinoma and transitional cell carcinoma. A total of 1 090 keywords were enrolled into main corpus. The total F-score, accuracy rate and recall rate are 85.69, 77.20% and 96.27%, respectively. @*Conclusion@#Text-mining combined with SVM can improve the efficiency of ICD-O-3 morphology coding; however, the accuracy needs to be further improved.

Dihydromyricetin Improves Endothelial Dysfunction in Diabetic Mice via Oxidative Stress Inhibition in a SIRT3-Dependent Manner.

Dihydromyricetin (DHY), a flavonoid component isolated from Ampelopsis grossedentata, exerts versatile pharmacological activities. However, the possible effects of DHY on diabetic vascular endothelial dysfunction have not yet been fully elucidated. In the present study, male C57BL/6 mice, wild type (WT) 129S1/SvImJ mice and sirtuin 3 (SIRT3) knockout (SIRT3-/-) mice were injected with streptozotocin (STZ, 60 mg/kg/day) for 5 consecutive days. Two weeks later, DHY were given at the doses of 250 mg/kg by gavage once daily for 12 weeks. Fasting blood glucose (FBG) and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level, endothelium-dependent relaxation of thoracic aorta, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, SIRT3, and superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2) protein expressions, as well as mitochondrial Deoxyribonucleic Acid (mtDNA) copy number, in thoracic aorta were detected. Our study found that DHY treatment decreased FBG and HbA1c level, improved endothelium-dependent relaxation of thoracic aorta, inhibited oxidative stress and ROS production, and enhanced SIRT3 and SOD2 protein expression, as well as mtDNA copy number, in thoracic aorta of diabetic mice. However, above protective effects of DHY were unavailable in SIRT3-/- mice. The study suggested DHY improved endothelial dysfunction in diabetic mice via oxidative stress inhibition in a SIRT3-dependent manner.

Associations between trying to control weight, weight control behaviors and current electronic cigarette usage in middle and high school students: A cross-sectional study in Zhejiang Province, China.

INTRODUCTION: Previous research has indicated that weight control behaviors are linked to cigarette smoking, whether these relationships extend to electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) is unknown. This study aims to examine the association between weight control behaviors and current e-cigarette usage among middle and high school students in China. METHODS: Based on the 2017 Zhejiang Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 17359 students were included and relevant data involving e-cigarette and weight control behaviors were collected via self-reported questionnaires. Logistic regression models were used to examine the associations between trying to control weight, specific weight control behaviors and current e-cigarette usage. Odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) are reported. RESULTS: Of the 17359 students, 374 (2.15%) were current e-cigarette users. No significant association was observed between trying to control weight and current e-cigarette usage (OR=1.01; 95% CI: 0.81-1.28). Significant associations were found between current e-cigarette usage and unhealthy weight control behaviors of eating less food, fewer calories (OR=1.74; 95% CI: 1.33-2.27), as well as taking laxatives (OR=3.34; 95% CI: 2.11-5.27), taking diet pills (OR=2.63; 95% CI: 1.72-4.02) and going without eating for 24 hours or more (OR=2.74; 95% CI: 1.86-4.04). CONCLUSIONS: A positive association was found between unhealthy weight control behaviors and current e-cigarette usage in adolescents. Specific education programs on unhealthy weight control behaviors should be considered in adolescents.

Incidence and Time Trends of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus among Adults in Zhejiang Province, China, 2007-2017.

AIMS: Population-based incidence data are paramount to assess the effects of prevention strategies for diabetes, yet the relevant studies in mainland China are scarce. This study is aimed at estimating the type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) incidence and time trends in Chinese adults. Material and Methods. Based on the Diabetes Surveillance System of Zhejiang Province, 879,769 newly diagnosed T2DM cases were identified from January 1, 2007, to December 31, 2017. Annual incidence, incidence rate ratios (IRRs), and average annual percentage change with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were reported. RESULTS: The age-standardized overall incidence rate of T2DM was reported to be 281.73 (95% CI: 281.26-282.20) per 100,000 person-years, 293.19 (95% CI: 292.51-293.87) in males and 270.42 (95% CI: 269.76-271.09) in females. Compared with the ≥80 years age group, younger adults were at lower risk for T2DM (IRRs ranged from 0.035 to 0.986 and the 95% CIs did not include the null), except for the 70-79 years age group (IRR: 1.087, 95% CI: 1.077-1.097). Compared with females and rural areas, the risk for T2DM was higher in males (IRR: 1.083, 95% CI: 1.079-1.088) and urban areas (IRR: 1.005, 95% CI: 1.001-1.009), respectively. The standardized annual incidence rate increased from 164.85 in 2007 to 268.65 per 100,000 person-years in 2017, with an average annual increase of 4.01% and grew more rapidly in male, younger, and rural area populations. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggested a significant increase in the incidence rate of T2DM among Chinese over the past decade, especially in adults characterized by male sex, younger age, and rural areas.

Awareness, current use of electronic cigarettes and associated smoking factors in Zhejiang Chinese adolescents.

OBJECTIVES: The present study aims at examining the prevalence of awareness and current use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) among middle and high school students from Zhejiang, China. Smoking-related factors associated with e-cigarettes use will also be explored. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was based on 2017 Zhejiang Youth Risk Behavior Survey. A total of 24,157 adolescents were recruited and relevant data of e-cigarettes and smoking-related factors were collected via a self-reported questionnaire. Logistic regression models were used to examine the association between e-cigarettes current use and the smoking-related factors. Odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were reported. RESULTS: Overall, 70.61% of middle and high school students reported hearing of e-cigarettes, while only 2.15% reported using e-cigarettes in the past month. Among smoking-related factors, cigarette smoking (ever and current), use of other tobacco products, second hand smoke exposure and previous attempts to quit smoking were significantly associated with higher current e-cigarettes use in adolescents. CONCLUSIONS: These results presented high awareness of e-cigarettes while relatively low use in Chinese adolescents. Smoking-related factors were significantly associated with increased e-cigarettes use.

Analysis of Mortality and Survival Rate of Liver Cancer in Zhejiang Province in China: A General Population-Based Study.

Background: Few accurate up-to-date studies provide liver cancer mortality and survival information in Zhejiang province. This research aimed to depict the mortality and survival of liver cancer in Zhejiang province in China during 2005-2010. Methods: The data were collected from the Zhejiang Chronic Disease Surveillance Information and Management System, and the mortality rates of liver cancer were calculated by gender, age, and areas. Chinese population census in 2000 and Segi's world population were used for age-standardized mortality rate. The observed and relative survival rates of liver cancer patients were analyzed. Results: The crude mortality rate of liver cancer was 32.11/105. The age-standardized mortality rate was 17.39/105 and 23.07/105 by Chinese population (ASIRC) and Segi's world population (ASIRW), respectively. The crude liver cancer mortality rate and age-standardized rate in urban areas were lower than those of rural areas. The overall 1-, 3-, and 5-year observed survival (OS) rates of liver cancer patients were 38.61%, 21.65%, and 16.83%, respectively. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year relative survival (RS) rates of liver cancer patients were 39.49%, 23.27%, and 19.09%, respectively. Survival rate decreased obviously within 1 to 5 years and then leveled off. It was shown that the male overall survival rate was higher than the female one and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusions: Both lower mortality and better survival rates were observed in urban areas, compared to rural areas. Relevant parties including government, public resource, and propaganda department should devote enough attention to rural areas.

Associations between stressful life events and diabetes: Findings from the China Kadoorie Biobank study of 500,000 adults.

AIMS/INTRODUCTION: Evidence has shown that stressful life events are associated with the development of diabetes, yet studies in mainland China are scarce. In the present study, we explored the associations between cumulative and specific stressful life events and the prevalence of diabetes in Chinese adults. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The cross-sectional data were from the China Kadoorie Biobank study, which enrolled approximately 500,000 adults aged 30-79 years from 10 diverse regions of China. Logistic regression models were used to calculate the adjusted odds ratio (OR) and the 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: Of the 473,607 participants, 25,301 (5.34%) had type 2 diabetes (2.68% clinically-identified and 2.66% screen-detected). Participants who experienced one and two or more stressful life events were 1.10-fold (OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.05-1.16) and 1.33-fold (OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.13-1.57) more likely to have type 2 diabetes. Three categories of work-related events (OR 1.15, 95% CI 1.01-1.31), as well as family-related events (OR 1.11, 95% CI 1.06-1.18) and personal-related events (OR 1.18, 95% CI 1.03-1.36), were associated with an increased likelihood of type 2 diabetes. Regarding the specific life events, the ORs of loss of job or retirement, as well as major conflict within family, death or major illness of other close family member and major injury or traffic accident, were 1.24 (95% CI 1.02-1.52), 1.24 (95% CI 1.08-1.43), 1.13 (95% CI 1.06-1.20) and 1.20 (95% CI 1.01-1.43), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that cumulative and specific stressful life events were significantly associated with an increased prevalence of diabetes.

Age at natural menopause and associated factors in adult women: Findings from the China Kadoorie Biobank study in Zhejiang rural area.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the factors associated with age at natural menopause in a large population of Chinese adult women. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was part of the baseline survey of China Kadoorie Biobank in Zhejiang Province. A total of 17,076 postmenopausal women were included in the present study. Relevant data of socio-demographic, lifestyle, dietary and reproductive characteristics were collected. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to examine the associated factors of age at natural menopause with adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were reported. RESULTS: The mean age at natural menopause was 48.94 years, with 3.40% of the women experienced premature menopause and 6.75% early menopause. Younger age, higher education, consumption of meat (1-3 days per week) and increased parity were associated with late menopause. Current smoking, underweight, higher physical activity, consumption of sea food (1-3 days per week), fresh eggs (≥4 days per week), fresh fruits (≥1 day per week), taking vitamins, experiencing severe food shortage, earlier age at menarche and older age at first birth were associated with earlier age at natural menopause. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that certain factors involved with socio-demographic, lifestyle, dietary and reproductive characteristics are related to the age at natural menopause in Chinese women.

Age at natural menopause and risk of diabetes in adult women: Findings from the China Kadoorie Biobank study in the Zhejiang area.

AIMS/INTRODUCTION: There has been considerable professional debate on the association between age at menopause and diabetes risk, while the findings are controversial. The present study explored the association between late menopause and the prevalence of diabetes in the Chinese population. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The data were part of the baseline survey of China Kadoorie Biobank from Zhejiang Province. A total of 17,076 postmenopausal women were included in the present study. Logistic regression models were used to calculate the adjusted odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: Of the participating women, 1,288 (7.54%) had type 2 diabetes. In comparison with those with menopause at 46-52 years, women with menopause at a later age (≥53 years) were 1.21-fold (95% confidence interval 1.03-1.43) more likely to have diabetes. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings suggested that later age at menopause was associated with an increased prevalence of diabetes.

Impact of injury-related mortality on life expectancy in Zhejiang, China based on death and population surveillance data.

BACKGROUND: Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of injury-related mortality on life expectancy in Zhejiang Province. METHODS: Our study used standard life tables to calculate life expectancy and cause-removed life expectancy based on mortality data from the Zhejiang Chronic Disease Surveillance System. RESULTS: Life expectancy of residents in Zhejiang was 77.83 years in 2013, with females having a higher life expectancy than males. The decrease in life expectancy caused by injury-related deaths was 1.19 years, the effect of which was reduced for females and urban residents compared with males and rural residents. The greatest impact on life expectancy was road traffic injuries (RTIs), (0.29 years lost overall, 0.36 for men vs. 0.21 for women and 0.26 for urban residents vs. 0.31 for rural residents). The main causes were falls (0.29 years lost overall, 0.30 for men vs. 0.28 for women and 0.28 for urban residents vs. 0.30 for rural residents), followed by drowning (0.15 years lost), suicide (0.11 years lost), and poisoning (0.04 years). For children less than 5 years old and elders aged over 65, drowning had a greater impact than falls. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that injury deaths had a major impact on life expectancy in Zhejiang. More attention should be paid to road traffic injury, and preventive action should be taken to reduce injury-related deaths to increase life expectancy, especially in children under five years of age and the elders over 65 years of age.

The association between sleep duration, snoring and prevalent type 2 diabetes mellitus with regard to gender and menopausal status: the CKB study in Zhejiang rural area, China.

AIMS: To evaluate the association between sleep duration, snoring and diabetes according to gender and menopausal status in rural China. METHODS: The data were part of the baseline survey of China Kadoorie Biobank, from a rural county in the south-east costal Zhejiang province. Participants including 24,027 men and 33,677 women aged 30-79 years were enrolled during 2004-2008. Multivariable logistic regression was used to calculate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) for diabetes. RESULTS: Sleep duration was shown to have a U-shaped association with diabetes in women, in particular in postmenopausal women after adjustment for potential confounders. Compared with 7-h sleepers, ORs (95 % CIs) of sleep duration ≤5 and ≥10 h for diabetes were 1.32 (1.02-1.69) and 1.30 (1.03-1.65), respectively, in postmenopausal women (P for quadratic trend = 0.016). However, this U-shaped association was not obvious in men and premenopausal women. Frequently snoring was positively associated with diabetes in all participants. However, this association was not independent of socioeconomic status, health behaviors, obesity and chronic diseases. With increasing sleep duration, the proportion of frequently snoring increased in all participants (P trend <0.05). Postmenopausal women had 23 % (95 % CI 6-44 %) higher odds of diabetes compared with premenopausal women, and the duration of menopause had cumulative effects on diabetes. CONCLUSIONS: Short and long sleep durations were significantly associated with diabetes in postmenopausal women, independent of potential confounders. The proportion of frequently snoring had linear trend with sleep duration. Postmenopausal status and the duration of menopause increased the odds of diabetes.

Breakfast Consumption and Its Associations with Health-Related Behaviors among School-Aged Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study in Zhejiang Province, China.

Evidence indicates that breakfast consumption is associated with a cluster of health-related behaviors, yet studies in mainland China are scarce. This study is conducted to describe the frequency of breakfast consumption among Chinese adolescents and examine its associations with other dietary, physical activity, sedentary, sleep, cigarette-smoking, and alcohol-drinking behaviors. Breakfast consumption and other health-related behaviors data was collected via a self-administered questionnaire in a cross-sectional study in Zhejiang Province, China. A total of 19,542 school-aged adolescents were recruited in this survey. The associations between breakfast consumption and other health-related behaviors were examined using logistic regression models. A significantly higher prevalence of daily breakfast consumption was found among students who were younger (p for trend <0.001), from urban schools (p < 0.001), and academic high schools (p < 0.001). More frequent vegetable and milk consumption, greater physical activity, and longer sleep duration were positively associated with daily breakfast consumption, while soft drinks and fast food consumption, computer use, cigarette-smoking and alcohol-drinking behaviors were inversely associated. The prevalence of irregular breakfast consumption was relatively high among Chinese adolescents in Zhejiang Province. Daily breakfast consumption was associated with a constellation of health-related behaviors.

Circulating MicroRNA-21 is Downregulated in Patients with Metabolic Syndrome.

The microRNA-21 (miR-21) is known to play a major role in cancer progression; however, its function in the cardiovascular system appears to be even more complex and conflicting. To characterize miR-21 expression in the plasma of individuals with or without metabolic syndrome (MetS), 58 MetS cases and 96 non-MetS controls were investigated. Expression levels of miR-21 were significantly decreased in the circulation of MetS subjects (OR=0.52, 95% CI: 0.29-0.92) compared with that of non-MetS subjects. Body mass index (BMI) and the number of MetS components had a negative correlation with the level of miR-21, whereas age was inversely related to the level of miR-21. No significant difference was detected in miR-21 levels between the sexes (P=0.056). MiR-21 might be a negative regulating factor in MetS.