Myocardial injury defined as elevated high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T is associated with higher mortality in patients seeking care at emergency departments with acute dyspnea.

BACKGROUND: Elevated levels of cardiac troponin T has been observed in patients seeking care at the emergency department (ED) presenting with chest pain but without myocardial infarction (MI). The clinical importance of this observation remains, however, still unclear. Our main aim was to study the role of cardiac troponin T in patients admitted to the emergency department with acute dyspnea, a group of patients with a high cardiovascular comorbidity, but no primary acute MI. POPULATION AND METHODS: Patients from the age of 18 seeking care at the ED for dyspnea, without an acute cardiac syndrome, and with a recorded assessment of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT), were included (n = 1001). Patients were categorized into 3 groups by hs-cTnT level, i.e. <15, 15-100 and > 100 µg/l. Cox regression with Hazard Ratios (HRs) and 95% Confidence Intervals (CI) for 3-months mortality was performed, with adjustment for sex, age, respiratory frequency, saturation, CHF, renal disease, and BMI. RESULTS: Fully adjusted HRs (95% CI) for 3-month mortality, with hs-cTnT < 15 µg/l as reference level, showed for hs-cTnT 15-100 a HR of 3.682 (1.729-7.844), and for hs-cTnT > 100 a HR of 10.523 (4.465-24.803). CONCLUSION: Elevated hs-cTnT seems to be a relevant marker of poor prognosis in patients with acute dyspnea without MI and warrants further validation and clinical testing.

Osteoporotic fractures in second-generation immigrants and Swedish natives.

In this national study of osteoporotic fractures in second-generation immigrants in Sweden, we found a similar risk of osteoporotic fractures in general compared to Swedish natives, which suggests that environmental factors are important for the high risk of osteoporotic fractures in Nordic countries. INTRODUCTION: Second generation immigrants may have a similar environment as individuals with two native-born parents. These individuals may be of interest to study concerning whether environmental or hereditary factors could be mostly associated to the risk of osteoporotic fractures. The aim of this study was to analyse the risk of osteoporotic fractures in second-generation immigrants compared to Swedish natives. METHODS: This was a nationwide study of individuals aged 50 years of age and older (N = 1,377,035; 691,750 men and 685,285 women). Osteoporotic fractures were defined as at least one registered diagnosis of fractures in the hip, humerus, forearm or vertebrae, in the National Patient Register between January 1, 1998, and December 31, 2012. Cox regression analysis was used to estimate the relative risk (hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI)) of incident osteoporotic fractures in second generation immigrants compared to Swedish natives. The Cox regression models were adjusted for age, comorbidities and for sociodemographic status. RESULTS: A total of 114,505 osteoporotic fractures were registered, 109,622 (8.4%) were among individuals with Swedish-born parents and 4883 (7.5%) among those with foreign-born parents, with distal forearm fractures dominating in general (44.9%). Fully adjusted HRs (95% CI) were for all immigrants 0.95 (95% CI, 0.91-0.99), for men 0.96 (95% CI, 0.89-1.04) and for women 0.95 (95% CI, 0.90-1.00). CONCLUSIONS: We observed a similar risk of osteoporotic fractures among second-generation immigrants as in Swedish natives, which suggests that environmental factors are important for osteoporotic fractures.

Osteoporotic fractures among foreign-born individuals: a national Swedish study.

In this national study of osteoporotic fractures in foreign-born individuals, we found a lower risk of osteoporotic fractures in general among foreign-born individuals compared with Swedish-born, especially in immigrants from southern Europe. A higher risk was found among some groups, i.e. men and women from Bosnia and Iraq and men from Lebanon. INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to analyse risk of osteoporotic fractures in foreign-born individuals compared with Swedish-born individuals. METHODS: This was a nationwide study of individuals 50 years of age and older (N = 2,775,736). Osteoporotic fractures were defined as at least one registered diagnosis of fractures in the hip, humerus, forearm or vertebrae, in the National Patient Register between January 1, 1998, and December 31, 2012. Cox regression analysis was used to estimate the relative risk (hazard ratios (HR) with 99% confidence intervals (CI)) of incident osteoporotic fractures in foreign-born compared with Swedish-born individuals. The Cox regression models were stratified by sex and adjusted for age, comorbidities and sociodemographic status. RESULTS: A total of 362,899 osteoporotic fractures were registered (96,847 among men and 266,052 among women), with hip fractures dominating (54.0% among men, 42.6% among women). Fully adjusted HRs (99% CI) were for all immigrant men 0.75 (99% CI, 0.73-0.78) and women 0.83 (99% CI, 0.81-0.84), with significantly lower HRs among most groups but with higher HRs in certain countries. For the specific fractures, higher HRs were found for lower forearm fractures for men from Asia and for vertebral fractures among women from Asia. CONCLUSIONS: We observed a generally lower risk of osteoporotic fractures among first-generation immigrants, with few exceptions.

TNFR1 is associated with short-term mortality in patients with diabetes and acute dyspnea seeking care at the emergency department.

BACKGROUND: Circulating levels of TNF alpha receptor 1 (TNFR1) and 2 (TNFR2) are associated with increased long-term mortality and impaired kidney function. AIM: To study association between circulating levels of TNFR1 and TNFR2 and short-term mortality in patients with diabetes and dyspnea. POPULATION AND METHODS: Patients aged ≥ 18 years seeking at emergency department (ED) during daytime on weekdays between December 2013 and July 2018, with diabetes and acute dyspnea, identified at the triage process, were included. Participants (n = 291) were triaged according to Medical Emergency Triage and Treatment System-Adult score, and blood samples were collected. Association between TNFR1 and TNFR2, respectively, and 90-day mortality were estimated by Cox regression models adjusted for age, sex, BMI, creatinine and CRP. RESULTS: Univariate models showed significant associations between TNFR1 and TNFR2, respectively, and CRP, age and creatinine. TNFR1 and TNFR2 tended to be elevated in patients with the highest triage level, compared to patients with lower triage levels (ns). In longitudinal analyses, TNFR1 but not TNFR2 was associated with increased short-term mortality, HR adjusted for age, BMI and creatinine 1.43 (95% CI 1.07-1.91), but not in the model also adjusted for CRP, HR 1.29 (95% CI 0.94-1.77). In secondary analysis for quartile 4 versus quartiles 1-3 of TNFR1, corresponding HRs were 2.46 (95% CI 1.27-5.15) and 2.21 (95% CI 1.07-2.56). CONCLUSIONS: We found a trend for the association between circulating TNFR1 levels and short-term mortality in patients with diabetes and acute dyspnea at the ED, possibly suggesting an inflammatory pathway for the association.

Epilepsy in second-generation immigrants: a cohort study of all children up to 18 years of age in Sweden.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Our purpose was to study the association between country of birth and incident epilepsy in second-generation immigrants in Sweden. METHODS: The study population included all children (n = 4 023 149) aged up to 18 years in Sweden. Epilepsy was defined as at least one registered diagnosis of epilepsy in the National Patient Register. The incidence of epilepsy, using individuals with Swedish-born parents as referents, was assessed by Cox regression, expressed in hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI). All models were stratified by sex and adjusted for age, geographical residence in Sweden, educational level, marital status, neighbourhood socioeconomic status and comorbid conditions, also using data from the Total Population Register. RESULTS: A total of 26 310 individuals had a registered epilepsy event, i.e. 6.5/1000 (6.6/1000 amongst boys and 6.3/1000 amongst girls). After adjustment, the risk of epilepsy was lower than in children of Swedish-born parents. Amongst girls the significant HR was 0.85 (95% CI 0.81-0.88), but in boys only when adjusting also for comorbidity (HR 0.96, 95% CI 0.92-0.99). Amongst specific immigrant groups, a higher incidence of epilepsy was observed amongst boys with parents from Turkey and Africa, but not when adjusting for comorbidity, and a lower risk was observed in many other groups (boys with parents from Latvia, girls with parents from Finland, Iceland, Southern Europe, countries from the former Yugoslavia, and Asia). CONCLUSION: The risk of epilepsy was lower in second-generation immigrant children compared to children with Swedish-born parents, but with substantial differences between different immigrant groups.

Endostatin predicts mortality in patients with acute dyspnea - A cohort study of patients seeking care in emergency departments.

BACKGROUND: Increased levels of circulating endostatin predicts cardiovascular morbidity and impaired kidney function in the general population. The utility of endostatin as a risk marker for mortality in the emergency department (ED) has not been reported. AIM: Our main aim was to study the association between plasma endostatin and 90-day mortality in an unselected cohort of patients admitted to the ED for acute dyspnea. Design Circulating endostatin was analyzed in plasma from 1710 adults and related to 90-day mortality in Cox proportional hazard models adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, body temperature, C-reactive protein, lactate, creatinine and medical priority according to the Medical Emergency Triage and Treatment System-Adult score (METTS-A). The predictive value of endostatin for mortality was evaluated with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis and compared with the clinical triage scoring system and age. RESULTS: Each one standard deviation increment of endostatin was associated with a HR of 2.12 (95% CI 1.31-3.44 p < 0.01) for 90-day mortality after full adjustment. Levels of endostatin were significantly increased in the group of patients with highest METTS-A (p < 0.001). When tested for the outcome 90-day mortality, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.616 for METTS-A, 0.701 for endostatin, 0.708 for METTS -A and age and 0.738 for METTS-A, age and levels of endostatin. CONCLUSIONS: In an unselected cohort of patients admitted to the ED with acute dyspnea, endostatin had a string association to 90-day mortality and improved prediction of 90-day mortality in the ED beyond the clinical triage scoring system and age with 3%.

Age is associated with increased mortality in the RETTS-A triage scale.

BACKGROUND: Triage is widely used in the emergency department (ED) in order to identify the patient's level of urgency and often based on the patient's chief complaint and vital signs. Age has been shown to be independently associated with short term mortality following an ED visit. However, the most commonly used ED triage tools do not include age as an independent core variable. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between age and 7- and 30-day mortality across the triage priority level groups according to Rapid Emergency Triage and Treatment System - Adult (RETTS-A), the most widely used triage tool in Sweden. METHODS: In this cohort, we included all adult patients visiting the ED at the Karolinska University Hospital, Sweden, from 1/1/2010 to 1/1/2015, n = 639,387. All patients were triaged according to the RETTS-A and subsequently separated into three age strata: 18-59, 60-79 and ≥ 80 years. Descriptive analyses and logistic regression was used. The primary outcome measures were 7- and 30-day mortality. RESULTS: We observed that age was associated with both 7 and 30-day mortality in each triage priority level group. Mortality was higher in older patients across all triage priority levels but the association with age was stronger in the lowest triage group (p-value for interaction = < 0.001). Comparing patients ≥80 years with patients 18-59 years, older patients had a 16 and 7 fold higher risk for 7 day mortality in the lowest and highest triage priority groups, respectively. The corresponding numbers for 30-d mortality were a 21- and 8-foldincreased risk, respectively. CONCLUSION: Compared to younger patients, patients above 60 years have an increased short term mortality across the RETTS-A triage priority level groups and this was most pronounced in the lowest triage level. The reason for our findings are unclear and data suggest a validation of RETTS-A in aged patients.

The use of anthropometric measures in the prediction of incident gout: results from a Swedish community-based cohort study.

Objectives: To study associations between different anthropometric measures and incident gout, and to find the best predictive measure. Method: We used the baseline investigation from the Malmö Diet and Cancer study, excluding cases of prevalent gout (n = 28 081). Cox regression for each anthropometric measurement was calculated per standard deviation increment for men and women, with hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), using a hospital diagnosis of incident gout (M10) during follow-up as the outcome. Incremental C-statistics for each anthropometric measure were used to determine the measure with the best predictive capacity, in models adjusted for age, socio-economic data, lifestyle factors, comorbidities, and antihypertensive medications. Results: The study population included 11 049 men and 17 032 women, with 633 incident gout cases, 393 in men (3.6%) and 240 in women (1.4%). For both men and women, the five anthropometric measurements with highest C-statistics were weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference, and waist-to-height ratio; in men, the measurement with the highest C-statistic was BMI (0.7361; fully adjusted HR 1.52, 95% CI 1.39-1.68), and in women WC (0.8085; fully adjusted HR 1.62, 95% CI 1.46-1.81). The increment in C-statistic with anthropometric measures was good, around 0.035. Waist-to-hip ratio, waist-to-hip-to-height ratio, body fat percentages, and especially A Body Shape Index had lower C-statistics. Conclusions: Both BMI and WC showed good predictive ability for incident gout. The clinically used cut-offs for BMI and WC appeared to be relevant in the assessment of increased risk of gout.

High prevalence of diabetes mellitus, hypertension and obesity among persons with a recorded diagnosis of intellectual disability or autism spectrum disorder.

BACKGROUND: Obesity and lack of physical activity are frequently reported in persons with intellectual disability (ID) or autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We hypothesised a higher prevalence of diabetes and hypertension in this population. METHOD: We used administrative data for all primary and specialist outpatient and inpatient healthcare consultations for people with at least one recorded diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, hypertension or obesity from 1998 to 2015. Data were drawn from the central administrative database for Stockholm County, Sweden. It was not possible to separate data for type 1 and type 2 diabetes. We stratified 26 988 individuals with IDs or ASD into three groups, with Down syndrome treated separately, and compared these groups with 1 996 140 people from the general population. RESULTS: Compared with the general population, men and women with ID/ASD had 1.6-3.4-fold higher age-adjusted odds of having a registered diagnosis of obesity or diabetes mellitus, with the exception of diabetes among men with Down syndrome. A registered diagnosis of hypertension was only more common among men with ID/ASD than in the general population. CONCLUSIONS: Diabetes and blood pressure health screening, along with efforts to prevent development of obesity already in childhood, are necessary for individuals with IDs and ASD. We believe that there is a need for adapted community-based health promotion programmes to ensure more equitable health for these populations.

The use of a Swedish telephone medical advice service by the elderly - a population-based study.

OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to describe contact made by the elderly to Sweden's nationwide medical helpline, Healthcare Guide 1177 by Phone (HGP). Other objectives were to study potential gender differences and the association between different HGP referral levels and acute visits to hospital-based emergency departments and acute visits to primary care centres. DESIGN: De-identified data from recorded calls to HGP was extracted for analysis (n = 7477 for the oldest age group). Information about acute visits to emergency departments and to primary care reception was extracted from the patient administration system. SETTING: Västerbotten County, Sweden. SUBJECTS: Patients over 80 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Calling and visiting frequencies for different age groups as well as reasons for contact and individual recommendations. RESULTS: The utilisation rate of the telephone advice service for the oldest age group was high, with an incidence rate of 533 per 1000 person-years. Women had a 1.17 times higher incidence rate compared with men. The most common reason for contact was drug-related questions (17% of all contacts). Calls that were recommended to care by a medical specialist correlated with total emergency department visits (r = 0.30, p < 0.05) and calls that were given advice correlated with acute primary healthcare visits (r = 0.38, p = 0.005). CONCLUSION: The high utilisation of the telephone advice service by the elderly gives the telephone advice service a unique ability to function as a gatekeeper to further healthcare. Our data suggest that with the telephone advice service's present guidelines, a significant proportion of all calls are being directed to further medical help. The high frequency of drug-related questions raises concerns about the elderly's medication regimens. Key points Patients over 80 years of age had a high utilisation of the telephone medical advice service compared with other age groups. Drug-related questions were the most common reason for contact. A significant proportion of all calls made resulted in further heatlhcare contacts.

Low fructosamine and mortality - A long term follow-up of 215,011 non-diabetic subjects in the Swedish AMORIS study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Both high and low fasting glucose has been associated with an increased mortality among individuals without diabetes. This J-shaped association has also been shown for HbA1c in relation to all-cause mortality. High fructosamine is associated with increased mortality. In this study we aim to evaluate if low fructosamine is also associated with increased mortality in non-diabetic subjects. METHODS AND RESULTS: We included 215,011 subjects from the AMORIS cohort undergoing occupational health screening or primary care in Stockholm, Sweden. Cause specific mortality was obtained from the Swedish Cause-of-Death Register by record linkage. Hazard ratios for the lowest decile of fructosamine were estimated by Cox regression for all-cause (n = 41,388 deaths) and cause-specific mortality during 25 years of follow-up. We observed gradually increased mortality with lower fructosamine in a large segment of the population. In the lowest decile of fructosamine the sex, age, social class and calendar adjusted hazard ratio was 1.20 (95% CI; 1.18-1.27) compared to deciles 2-9. This increased mortality was attenuated after adjustment for six other biomarkers (HR = 1.11 (95% CI; 1.07-1.15)). Haptoglobin, an indicator of chronic inflammation, made the greatest difference in the point estimate. In sensitivity analyses we found an association between low fructosamine and smoking and adjustment for smoking further attenuated the association between low fructosamine and mortality. CONCLUSION: Low levels of fructosamine in individuals without diabetes were found to be associated with increased mortality. Smoking and chronic inflammation seem to at least partially explain this association but an independent contribution by low fructosamine cannot be excluded.

The association between endostatin and kidney disease and mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes.

AIM: Circulating endostatin, a biologically active derivate of collagen XVIII, is considered to be a marker of kidney disease and a risk factor for its related mortality. However, less is known of the role of endostatin in diabetes and the development of diabetic nephropathy. For this reason, our study investigated the associations between circulating endostatin and the prevalence and progression of kidney disease, and its mortality risk in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). METHODS: This was a cohort study of 607 patients with T2D (mean age: 61 years, 44% women). Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), calculated using the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) creatinine equation, was used to assess the patients' kidney function decline and mortality. RESULTS: Of the total study cohort, 20 patients declined by ≥20% in eGFR over 4 years, and 44 died during the follow-up (mean duration: 6.7 years). At baseline, participants with diabetic nephropathy (defined as eGFR<60mL/min/1.73m2) and/or microalbuminuria [defined as a urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR)>3g/mol] had higher median levels of endostatin than those without nephropathy (62.7µg/L vs 57.4µg/L, respectively; P=0.031). In longitudinal analyses adjusted for age, gender, baseline eGFR and ACR, higher endostatin levels were associated with a higher risk of decline (≥20% in eGFR, OR per 1 SD increase: 1.73, 95% CI: 1.13-2.65) and a higher risk of mortality (HR per 1 SD increase: 1.57, 95% CI: 1.19-2.07). CONCLUSION: In patients with T2D, circulating endostatin levels can predict the progression of kidney disease and mortality independently of established kidney disease markers. The clinical usefulness of endostatin as a risk marker in such patients merits further studies.

Mental disorder and long-term risk of mortality: 41 years of follow-up of a population sample in Stockholm, Sweden.

BACKGROUND: An increased mortality risk associated with mental disorder has been reported for patients, but there are few studies are based on random samples with interview-based psychiatric diagnoses. Part of the increased mortality for those with mental disorder may be attributable to worse somatic health or hazardous health behaviour - consequences of the disorder - but somatic health information is commonly lacking in psychiatric samples. This study aims to examine long-term mortality risk for psychiatric diagnoses in a general population sample and to assess mediation by somatic ill health and hazardous health behaviour. METHOD: We used a double-phase stratified random sample of individuals aged 18-65 in Stockholm County 1970-1971 linked to vital records. First phase sample was 32 186 individuals screened with postal questionnaire and second phase was 1896 individuals (920 men and 976 women) that participated in a full-day examination (participation rate 88%). Baseline examination included both a semi-structured interview with a psychiatrist, with mental disorders set according to the 8th version of the International Classification of Disease (ICD-8), and clinical somatic examination, including measures of body composition (BMI), hypertension, fasting blood glucose, pulmonary function and self-reported tobacco smoking. Information on vital status was obtained from the Total Population Register for the years 1970-2011. Associations with mortality were studied with Cox proportional hazard analyses. RESULTS: A total of 883 deaths occurred among the participants during the 41-year follow-up. Increased mortality rates were found for ICD-8 functional psychoses (hazard ratio, HR = 2.22, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.15-4.30); psycho-organic symptoms (HR = 1.94, 95% CI: 1.31-2.87); depressive neuroses (HR = 1.71, 95% CI: 1.23-2.39); alcohol use disorder (HR = 1.91, 95% CI: 1.40-2.61); drug dependence (HR = 3.71, 95% CI: 1.80-7.65) and psychopathy (HR = 2.88, 95% CI: 1.02-8.16). Non-participants (n = 349) had mortality rates similar to participants (HR = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.81-1.18). In subgroup analyses of those with psychoses, depression or alcohol use disorder, adjusting for the potential mediators smoking and pulmonary function, showed only slight changes in the HRs. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms the increased risk of mortality for several psychiatric diagnoses in follow-up studies on American, Finnish and Swedish population-based samples. Only a small part of the increased mortality hazard was attributable to differences in somatic health or hazardous health behaviour measured at baseline.

Prediction of cardiovascular disease by abdominal obesity measures is dependent on body weight and sex--results from two community based cohort studies.

AIM: To study waist-hip ratio (WHR), waist circumference (WC), sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD), and waist-hip-height ratio (WHHR) as predictors of CVD, in men and women stratified by BMI (cut-off ≥25). METHODS AND RESULTS: A cohort of n = 3741 (53% women) 60-year old individuals without CVD was followed for 11-years (375 CVD cases). To replicate the results, we also assessed another large independent cohort; The Malmö Diet and Cancer study - cardiovascular cohort (MDCC, (n = 5180, 60% women, 602 CVD cases during 16-years). After adjustment for established risk factors in normal-weight women, the hazard ratio (HR) per one standard deviation (SD) were; WHR; 1.91 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.35-2.70), WC; 1.81 (95% CI 1.02-3.20), SAD; 1.25 (95% CI 0.74-2.11), and WHHR; 1.97 (95% CI 1.40-2.78). In men the association with WHR, WHHR and WC were not significant, whereas SAD was the only measure that significantly predicted CVD in men (HR 1.19 (95% CI 1.04-1.35). After adjustments for established risk factors in overweight/obese women, none of the measures were significantly associated with CVD risk. In men, however, all measures were significant predictors; WHR; 1.24 (955 CI 1.04-1.47), WC 1.19 (95% CI 1.00-1.42), SAD 1.21 (95% CI 1.00-1.46), and WHHR; 1.23 (95% CI 1.05-1.44). Only the findings in men with BMI ≥ 25 were verified in MDCC. CONCLUSION: In normal weight individuals, WHHR and WHR were the best predictors in women, whereas SAD was the only independent predictor in men. Among overweight/obese individuals all measures failed to predict CVD in women, whereas WHHR was the strongest predictor after adjustments for CVD risk factors in men.

Effects of tactile massage on metabolic biomarkers in patients with type 2 diabetes.

AIM: Tactile massage (TM) is a gentle and superficial form of massage. A pilot study of patients with type 2 diabetes in primary care reported a reduction of 0.8% in glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c), whereas a randomized study comparing the effects of 10 weeks of TM once per week with relaxation exercises performed once per week as per instructions on a CD found no effects of TM on HbA(1c) in an intention-to-treat analysis. However, a significant reduction in waist circumference (WC) was found between the groups. METHODS: This was a secondary per-protocol analysis of the effect of TM (n=21) compared with relaxation (n=25) on other metabolic biomarkers. Anthropometrics (BMI and WC) and metabolic factors (B HbA(1c), S IGF, fS insulin, S adiponectin, S leptin and fP ghrelin) were assessed, insulin resistance (IR) was determined by modified homoeostasis model assessment (HOMA2-IR) using fP glucose and fS insulin, and ratios of adiponectin-to-leptin, adiponectin-to-HOMA-IR, adiponectin-to-WC and adiponectin-to-HbA1c were calculated at baseline, and at 10 weeks and 6 months after the intervention. RESULTS: Significant results adjusted for age, gender and changes in lifestyle and medical factors were shown for WC in women (-6.2 cm [95% CI: -10.4, -1.9]), but not in men. In addition, improvements in the TM group were found for adiponectin and ratios of adiponectin-to-leptin and adiponectin-to-HbA1c levels. CONCLUSION: Our data indicate that TM therapy may affect metabolic markers in type 2 diabetes despite the lack of significant effects on HbA(1c). The clinical implications of our findings need to be evaluated in further studies.

Novel and established anthropometric measures and the prediction of incident cardiovascular disease: a cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to compare novel and established anthropometrical measures in their ability to predict cardiovascular disease (CVD), and to determine whether they improve risk prediction beyond classical risk factors in a cohort study of 60-year-old men and women. We also stratified the results according to gender to identify possible differences between men and women. Furthermore, we aimed to replicate our findings in a large independent cohort (The Malmö Diet and Cancer study-cardiovascular cohort). METHODS: This was a population-based study of 1751 men and 1990 women, aged 60 years and without CVD at baseline, with 375 incident cases of CVD during 11 years of follow-up. Weight, height, waist circumference (WC), hip circumference and sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD) were measured at baseline. Body mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio (WHR), waist-hip-height ratio (WHHR), WC-to-height ratio (WCHR) and SAD-to-height ratio (SADHR) were calculated. RESULTS: All anthropometric measures predicted CVD in unadjusted Cox regression models per s.d. increment (hazard ratios, 95% confidence interval), while significant associations after adjustments for established risk CVD factors were noted for WHHR 1.20 (1.08-1.33), WHR 1.14 (1.02-1.28), SAD 1.13 (1.02-1.25) and SADHR 1.17 (1.06-1.28). WHHR had higher increases in C-statistics, and model improvements (likelihood ratio tests (P<0.001)). In the replication study (MDC-CC, n=5180), WHHR was the only measure that improved Cox regression models in men (P=0.01). CONCLUSION: WHHR, a new measure reflecting body fat distribution, showed the highest risk estimates after adjustments for established CVD risk factors. These findings were verified in men but not women in an independent cohort.

Poor self-rated health is not associated with a high total allostatic load in type 2 diabetic patients--but high blood pressure is.

OBJECTIVE: Allostatic load has been linked to self-rated health (SRH), cardiovascular disease and mortality in non-diabetic individuals. The aim of this study was to construct an allostatic load score and to find any correlations with SRH. METHODS: The subjects included in the study came from a randomized, controlled trial of type 2 diabetes. Blood samples were drawn, urine was collected for 24h, and questionnaires, including SRH, were filled out on three occasions: at baseline; after the 10-week intervention; and at a follow-up 3 months after the intervention. Allostatic load was estimated using a wide range of variables, including systolic and diastolic blood pressure, pulse pressure, cortisol, catecholamines, HbA(1c), insulin, plasma glucose and waist circumference. RESULTS: There was no association between SRH and allostatic load. However, three other components were significantly correlated with allostatic load at the baseline investigation and the two follow-up investigations - namely, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and HbA(1c). CONCLUSION: The absence of an association between allostatic load and SRH in diabetic individuals contrasts with previous findings in non-diabetic women, and shows that it is hazardous to apply findings in one population to another, especially diabetic and non-diabetic populations.

Prevalence of blood lipid disturbances in Swedish and foreign-born 60-year-old men and women in Stockholm, Sweden.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Some immigrant groups in Sweden show a higher incidence of cardiovascular diseases, especially coronary heart disease. There is a lack of data of pattern of blood lipids among these. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of dyslipidaemia in men and women of foreign-born origin compared to Swedish-born. METHODS AND RESULTS: A cross-sectional study of a random sample of the population in Stockholm County, Sweden, with total of 4228 60-year-old men and women. Medical, lifestyle and socio-economic data were collected by questionnaires, and anthropometric and laboratory data through medical examination. Outcomes were odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) for dyslipidaemia in different groups, with Swedish-born as reference group, with adjustment for anthropometric, medical, lifestyle and socio-economic factors. Among non-European immigrants, the fully adjusted OR of high cholesterol was 0.57 (95% CI 0.37-0.88), of high LDL-cholesterol was 0.62 (95% CI 0.40-0.96), and of low HDL-cholesterol was 2.06 (95% CI 1.35-3.15). When only adjusting for sex, Finnish-born and non-European immigrants showed higher risk of high triglycerides, OR 1.31 (95% CI 1.01-1.71) and OR 1.98 (95% CI 1.34-2.93), respectively, and of high apoB/apoA-I ratio, OR 1.29 (95% CI 1.00-1.66) and OR 1.57 (95% CI 1.06-2.33), respectively. CONCLUSION: The finding of blood lipid disturbances among immigrants in this study partly explain the higher cardiovascular morbidity shown in previous studies. Non-European immigrants showed a different lipid pattern, with lower HDL-cholesterol, which could possibly be of genetic background.