Prevalence of high blood pressure and associated coronary risk factors in an adult population of Mexico city

Background. Several studies have addressed arterial hypertension prevalence in Mexico. However, few include an anlysis of other types of hypertension and their associated risk factors. The present work describes the prevalence of high blood pressure (HBP), isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) and diastolic hypertension (DH) and their association to certain risk factors of cardiovascular disease in an adult population of Mexico City. Methods. A cross-sectional study was performed on 825 subjects age between 20 and 90 years, selected by multistage cluster sampling. HBP was diagnosed by previous history if systolic blood pressure was =140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure =90 mmHg. The measurements taken included body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, levels of insulin, glucose, triglycerides, total cholesterol, high and low density hipoprotein cholesterol, and lipoprotein(a). Results. Prevalence adjusted by age for HBP was 19.4 percent, for ISH, 4.7 percent, and for DH, 4.1 percent. Age had an important influence on HBP and ISH with highly significant X²t. The profile of metabolic variables was modified according to sex and type of hypertension. Thus, in DH, metabolic variables were more affected than in other types of hypertension. Conclusions. Results in HBP prevalence in the present study were lower than in other surveys performed in Mexico. It must be noted, however, that much care should be taken to choose the strategy of subject selection, since results of the prevalence of a disease depend on it to a great extent. The ISH and DH and their association to risk factor must be studied thoroughly because they constitute different clinical entities

Factores de riesgo para el desarrollo de tumores de células germinales en niños / Risk factors for germinal cell tumor development in children

Determinar los factores de riesgo para el desarrollo de tumor de células germinales (TCG) en hijos residentes del Distrito Federal (DF). Estudio observacional, prolectivo, de casos y controles, en niños menores de 15 años, derechohabientes del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social y residentes en el DF. La población de estudio se seleccionó del primero de enero de 1990 al 31 de diciembre de 1994. A los padres de los pacientes se les aplicó un cuestionario de 230 preguntas, precodificado y validado con anterioridad mediante un estudio piloto. Para el análisis se obtuvieron las frecuencias simples de las diferentes variables y como medida de asociación se calculó la razón de momios (OR) y el intervalo de confianza al 95 por ciento (IC95 por ciento). Se obtuvieron 21 casos y 105 controles. Como factores de riesgo significativos se encontró a la concepción en invierno (OR= 7.6, IC95 por ciento 1.5-39.3=0.007); la menor escolaridad de los padres (OR= 2.9m IC95 por ciento 1.1-7.5; P=0.026); la exposición en el padre a polvos y electricidad antes del embarazo (OR-26, IC95 por ciento 2.28-1291.86; P=0.0007), durante(OR=8.58, IC95 por ciento 0.89-106.5; P=0.05) y después del embarazo (OR=9.66, IC95 por ciento 0.99- 1202; P=0.027). Se observó con un efecto protector a los cuadro infecciosos de repetición en la primera infancia. Se incluye que el mayor riesgo con la concepción en invierno apoya una teoría infecciosa en el desarrollo de TCG; también se resalta la importancia de la menor educación y la exposición a agentes físicos en el padre así como el hallazgo de los factores de protección

Lipoprotein(a) and cardiovascular risk in adult Mexicans

De 1991 a 1992 se realizó un estudio epidemiológico transversal en una muestra aleatoria de la población adulta de la ciuda de México en la que se analizaron los factores de riesgo de enfermedad arterial coronaria (EAC). La concentración plasmática de lipoproteína(A) (Lp(a)) se midió por ELISA en 404 hombres y 311 mujeres de 20 a 90 años de edad. La mediana de Lp(a) fue de 6.9 mg/dL y la prevalencia de valores elevados (> 30 mg/dL) de 14 por ciento. El nivel de Lp(a) correlacionó positivamente con el de colesterol total (rs = 0.16) y con el colesterol de lipoproteína de baja densidad (C-LDL) (rs = 0.21), y en forma negativa con la insulina (rs = 0.13). La insulina y el C-LDL fueron las variables que mejoro explicaron las concentraciones de Lp(a) en la población. La distribución de Lp(a) en la ciudad de México es similar a la descrita para otras poblaciones y nuestros resultados sugieren, aunque sin alcanzar significancia estadística, que las cifras elevadas de Lp(a) pudieran estar asociadas con la EAC en nuestra población

High Blood pressure and cardiovascular risk factors in an adult population of Mexico City: characteristics of the studies population

The present report is a description of the characteristics of a studied population and of the methodology used in a study performed to investigate high blood pressure prevalence and cardiovascular risk factors among the adult population of Mexico City. A cross-sectional study was conducted from January 1991 to March 1992. Random samplings of multiple stages was used and 825 adult subjects were studied in Mexico City. The following measurements were registered: blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio (WHR), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high density lipoproteins (HDL-C) and low density lipoproteins (LDL-C), lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)), glucose and insulin. Personal and family history of cardiovascular illness were investigated, as well as exposure to some risk factor such as smoking, alcohol consumption and sedentarism. The response rate was 86.6 percent. The prevalence of high blood pressure was 21.1 percent, and of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus was 8.7 percent. Frequency of dyslipidemia in the studied sample was 24.4 percent for high TG, 23.6 percent for low HDL-C, 23.6 percent for high LDL-C, 14.9 percent for Lp(a) excess (lp(a) > or = 30 mg/dl; overweight and obesity were more prevalent among women. The diversity of living conditions among the population of Mexico City was included in the sampling strategy design, not only to register the high blood pressure (HBP) frequency in each stratum but to identify other cardiovascular risk factors which could be decisive in the development of HBP. Regarding the features of the studied population, BMI did not reveal differences among men, but their TG levels were higher and HDL levels lower than those of other populations. In women, the results obtained for BMI, WHR, lipids and lipoproteins were also higher compared with the mean reported for other populations