Biomedical subjects

E G Schouten

Publications and source records attributed to E G Schouten.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2007

Determinants of childhood overweight and obesity in China.

In order to investigate the determinants of childhood overweight and obesity in China, the prevalence of overweight (including obesity) was compared according to different dietary and physical activity patterns and parental body weight status. A total of 6826 children aged 7-17 years from the 2002 China National Nutrition and Health Survey were included in the study. Information for dietary intake was collected using three consecutive 24-h recalls by trained interviewers. The amounts of cooking oil and condiments consumed were weighed. An interview-administered 1-year physical activity questionnaire was used to collect physical activity information. The results showed that the heavier the parental bodyweight, the higher the overweight prevalence in children. The prevalence ratio increased if parent(s) were overweight and/or obese, up to 12.2 if both parents were obese. Overweight children consumed significantly more dietary energy, protein and fat, but less carbohydrate than their normal weight counterparts. On average, overweight children spent 0.5 h less on moderate/vigorous activities and 2.3 h more on low intensity activities per week. The following prevalence ratios were statistically significant: walking to and from school (0.6); moderate/vigorous activities > or =45 min/d (0.8); low intensity physical activities >2 h/d (1.3); the consumption of > or =25 g/d cooking oil (1.4); > or =200 g/d meat and meat products consumption (1.5); > or =100g/d dairy products (1.8). After adjustment for parental body weight status and socioeconomic status, only cooking oil consumption and walking to and from school remained significantly related to child overweight. In conclusion, parental weight status is an import-ant determinant. Fat intake, low intensity activities and active transport to/from school may be suitable entry points for overweight prevention among Chinese school children.

Body Weight↗

PubMed2005

Netherlands research programme weight gain prevention (NHF-NRG): rationale, objectives and strategies.

OBJECTIVE: To outline the rationale, objectives and strategies used in a systematically designed research programmme to study specific weight gain-inducing behaviours, their social-psychological as well as environmental determinants, and the effects of interventions aimed at the prevention of weight gain. DESIGN: The evidence for potential behavioural determinants and strategies to prevent weight gain was reviewed, and the methods applied within the Netherlands Research programme weight gain prevention (NHF-NRG) project were described. The project is designed according to the Intervention Mapping protocol. SETTING: The Netherlands. SUBJECTS: The main target groups are (a) adolescents (12-16 y) in secondary school, (b) young adults (20-40 y) at the workplace and (c) recently retired people (55-65 y) at home. INTERVENTIONS: Each intervention includes an individual component, in which computer-tailored information is provided. Additionally, interventions are aimed at changing environmental components. RESULTS: The short-term results of this project can be expected by the beginning of 2005. Guidelines for nationwide weight gain prevention, based on this research programme, will become available in 2007. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the few interventions that were evaluated to date, no robust conclusions can be drawn regarding the effectiveness of obesity prevention. The systematic and multidisciplinary design of the NHF-NRG programme enables the identification of potentially effective methods and strategies for the prevention of weight gain.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Intake of n-3 fatty acids from fish does not lower serum concentrations of C-reactive protein in healthy subjects.

OBJECTIVE: High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of systemic inflammation, is a powerful predictor of cardiovascular risk. We hypothesised that n-3 fatty acids reduce underlying inflammatory processes and consequently CRP concentrations in healthy middle-aged subjects. DESIGN: Placebo-controlled, double-blind study. SUBJECTS: A total of 43 men and 41 postmenopausal women aged 50-70 y. Before and after intervention, we measured serum CRP concentrations with an enzyme immunoassay. INTERVENTIONS: Capsules with either 3.5 g/day fish oil (1.5 g/day n-3 fatty acids) or placebo for 12 weeks. RESULTS: The median CRP change in the fish oil group did not significantly differ from that in the placebo group (0.01 vs -0.17 mg/l, P = 0.057). CONCLUSION: The currently available data--including ours--do not support that beneficial effects on CRP are involved in a mechanism explaining the protective effect on heart disease risk of n-3 fatty acids as present in fish.

Aged↗

PubMed2004

Does vitamin C supplementation influence the levels of circulating oxidized LDL, sICAM-1, sVCAM-1 and vWF-antigen in healthy male smokers?

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of vitamin C supplementation on the concentration of oxidation markers, in particular, circulating oxidized LDL (OxLDL) and on endothelial activation markers. DESIGN: Randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial. SETTING: Belgian population of the city of Leuven. SUBJECTS: A total of 34 healthy male smokers aged 26-73 y. INTERVENTION: Smokers were randomly assigned to receive either vitamin C (250 mg twice daily) or placebo capsules, each to be taken for 4 weeks. After a 1-week washout period, participants then crossed over to the alternative capsules for further 4 weeks. MEAN OUTCOME MEASURES: Markers of oxidation (bilirubin, uric acid, alpha-tocopherol, retinol, malondialdehyde, circulating Oxidized LDL (OxLDL)) and markers of endothelial activation (sICAM-1, sVCAM-1, vWF-antigen) were analysed. RESULTS: Plasma ascorbate concentrations significantly increased from 46.6+/-17.6 to 70.1+/-21.2 mumol/l after a 4-week treatment with 500 mg vitamin C per day. The other plasma antioxidants concentrations, including bilirubin, uric acid, alpha-tocopherol and retinol, were similar in both treatment periods. Vitamin C did not change plasma malondialdehyde and circulating OxLDL compared with placebo (vitamin C 0.73+/-0.25 mg/dl OxLDL; placebo 0.72+/-0.21 mg/dl OxLDL). After vitamin C supplementation, neither sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 levels nor the concentration of vWF-antigen significantly differed from placebo condition. CONCLUSIONS: Oral supplementation of vitamin C is not associated with changes in markers of oxidation or endothelial activation in healthy male smokers.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Quantitative analysis of 8-isoprostane and hydrogen peroxide in exhaled breath condensate.

Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) provides a noninvasive means of sampling the lower respiratory tract. Collection of EBC might be useful in the assessment of airway oxidative stress in smokers. The aim of this study was to determine 8-isoprostane and hydrogen peroxide levels in EBC, and, in addition, to investigate the reproducibility of these measurements. EBC samples were collected from 12 healthy male smokers at three time points within 1 week. 8-isoprostane and H2O2 were measured in nonconcentrated EBC using immunochemical and colorimetric assays, respectively. 8-isoprostane and H2O2 were detected in only 36 and 47% of all EBC samples, respectively. It was not possible to calculate the within-subject variation in a reliable manner since only three of the 12 smokers exhibited detectable 8-isoprostane concentrations on all three occasions (mean 4.6 pg x mL(-1); range 3.9-7.7 pg x mL(-1)), whereas H2O2 could not be detected on all three occasions in any of the smokers. Spiking experiments revealed a recovery of 83.5-109.5% for 8-isoprostane and 69.9-129.0%, for H2O2 in fresh EBC samples. It was concluded that levels of 8-isoprostane and hydrogen peroxide cannot be reproducibly assessed in exhaled breath condensate from healthy smokers because of their low concentration and/or the lack of sensitivity of the available assays.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Trans fatty acids, HDL-cholesterol, and cardiovascular disease. Effects of dietary changes on vascular reactivity.

A high consumption of trans fatty acids increases the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). We investigated whether this increase in risk was due to the decrease in serum HDL-cholesterol by trans fatty acids, because low concentrations of serum HDL-cholesterol also increase risk of CVD. Flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) was used as an endpoint in dietary interventions that were designed to change the concentration of serum HDL-cholesterol within 4 weeks in healthy volunteers. Replacement of 10% of energy from saturated by trans fatty acids decreased serum HDL-cholesterol by 21 % and impaired FMD. However, a replacement of monounsaturated fats by carbohydrates did not impair FMD, although it decreased serum HDL-cholesterol by 13%. Acute postprandial impairments of FMD by either trans fats or saturated fats were not found, suggesting that long-term effects are responsible for the detrimental effect of trans fats on health. However, the role of serum HDL-cholesterol appears to be less than we expected.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Rationale and design of a randomised controlled clinical trial on supplemental intake of n-3 fatty acids and incidence of cardiac arrhythmia: SOFA.

BACKGROUND: Evidence from earlier studies indicates that intake of very long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA, also named omega-3 fatty acids) as present in fish oil reduces the risk of sudden death. Sudden death forms a major part of mortality from cardiovascular disease and is in most cases a direct consequence of cardiac arrhythmia. n-3 PUFA may exert their protective effect through reducing the susceptibility for cardiac arrhythmia. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of n-3 PUFA on the incidence of recurrent ventricular arrhythmia. This paper presents the rationale, design and methods of the Study on Omega-3 Fatty acids and ventricular Arrhythmia (SOFA) and discusses problems encountered in conducting a multicentre clinical trial on food. DESIGN: A randomised, parallel, placebo-controlled, double blind intervention study, which obeys the guidelines for Good Clinical Practice. SETTING: Multiple cardiology centres in Europe. SUBJECTS: A total of 500 patients with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). An ICD detects, treats and stores cardiac arrhythmic events in its memory chip. INTERVENTIONS: Patients receive either 2 g/day of fish oil, containing approximately 450 mg eicosapentaenoic acid and 350 mg docosahexaenoic acid, or placebo for 12 months. PRIMARY OUTCOME: Spontaneous ventricular tachyarrhythmias as recorded by the ICD or all-cause mortality. CONCLUSION: SOFA is designed to answer the question whether intake of n-3 PUFA from fish-a regular food ingredient-can reduce the incidence of life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia. If this proves to be true, increasing the intake of n-3 PUFA could be an easy, effective and safe measure to prevent fatal arrhythmia in the general population.

Anti-Arrhythmia Agents↗

PubMed2003

Inactivity and weight loss: effective criteria to identify frailty.

The effectiveness was examined of inactivity and weight loss as criteria to identify a frail subgroup within independently living elderly persons participating in the SENECA study (Survey in Europe on Nutrition and the Elderly, a Concerted Action). Eight-hundred-forty-nine participants (aged 75 to 80) from nine countries were classified in four subgroups: 1) inactive elderly (lowest tertile activity score: n = 204); 2) weight losing elderly (lowest quintile: * 6.3% weight loss over 4-5 years: n = 108); 3) both inactive and weight losing (n = 54); 4) neither inactive nor weight losing: reference (n = 483). Differences in health, physical functioning and nutritional characteristics between groups 1, 2 and 3 respectively, and the reference group were evaluated. Compared to the weight-stable, active reference group, both inactive, weight losing (group 3) and inactive subjects (group 1) reported significantly more chronic diseases (2.2 and 1.8 vs. 1.1), disabilities (81 and 80 vs. 43%), use of medications (both 2.3 vs. 1.1) and care services (26 and 21 vs. 6%), and a lower self-rated health (2.8 and 3.1 vs. 3.8), relative health (1.9 and 2.1 vs. 2.6), and physical performance score (17 and 18 vs. 22). In addition, inadequate micronutrient intake and biochemical deficiencies were more prevalent. Weight-losing elderly were not significantly different from the reference group with respect to these characteristics. Therefore, physical inactivity alone or in combination with weight loss seems to be a practical and inexpensive screening criterion for identifying a subgroup of elderly with less favourable health and nutritional characteristics and poorer physical functioning among non-institutionalised elderly.

Aged↗

PubMed2002

Trans monounsaturated fatty acids and saturated fatty acids have similar effects on postprandial flow-mediated vasodilation.

OBJECTIVE: Several studies suggest that a fatty meal impairs flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD), a measure of endothelial function. We tested whether the impairment was greater for trans fats than for saturated fats. We did this because we previously showed that replacement of saturated fats by trans fats in a controlled diet decreased FMD after 4 weeks. DESIGN: We fed 21 healthy men two different test meals with 0.9-1.0 g fat/kg body weight in random order: one rich in saturated fatty acids (Sat), mainly from palm kernel fat, and one rich in trans fatty acids (Trans) from partially hydrogenated soy bean oil. The study was performed in our metabolic ward. We had complete data for both diets of 21 men. RESULTS: FMD increased from a fasting value of 2.3+/-2.0% of the baseline diameter to 3.0+/-1.7% after the Sat test meal (95% CI for change -0.33, 1.70) and from 2.7+/-2.3 to 3.1+/-2.0% after the Trans test meal (95% CI for change -0.57, 1.29). The increase after the Sat meal was 0.22 (-1.18-1.61) FMD% higher than after the Trans meal. Serum triacylglycerols increased by 0.46+/-0.36 mmol/l after the Sat test meal and by 0.68+/-0.59 mmol/l after the Trans test meal; a difference of 0.23 (0.07, 0.39) mmol/l. Serum HDL-cholesterol was hardly affected by the test meals. The activity of serum paraoxonase, an esterase bound to HDL, increased slightly after the two test meals but the difference between meals was not significant. CONCLUSION: FMD was not impaired and not different after test meals with saturated or trans fatty acids. Thus, differences in long-term effects of these fats are not caused by differences in acute effects on the vascular wall.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Physical exercise or micronutrient supplementation for the wellbeing of the frail elderly? A randomised controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of 17 weeks of physical exercise and micronutrient supplementation on the psychological wellbeing of 139 independently living, frail, elderly subjects (inactive, body mass index < or =25 or experiencing weight loss). METHODS: Participants (mean (SD) age 78.5 (5.7)) were randomly assigned to: (a) comprehensive, moderate intensity, group exercise; (b) daily micronutrient enriched foods (25-100% recommended daily amount); (c) both; (d) neither. A social programme and identical regular foods were offered as attention control and placebo. RESULTS: At baseline, moderate to low but significant correlations were found between general wellbeing scores and physical fitness (r = 0.28), functional performance (r = 0.37), and blood concentrations of pyridoxine (r = 0.20), folate (r = 0.25), and vitamin D (r = 0.23) (all p values < or =0.02), but not with physical activity levels and other blood vitamin concentrations. General wellbeing score and self rated health were not responsive to 17 weeks of exercise or nutritional intervention. CONCLUSION: Psychological wellbeing in frail elderly people was not responsive to 17 weeks of intervention with exercise and/or micronutrient enriched foods. The moderate but significant correlations between wellbeing and physical fitness and several blood vitamin concentrations at baseline suggest that changes in wellbeing may occur after long term interventions.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2001

Parental history of myocardial infarction: lipid traits, gene polymorphisms and lifestyle.

To investigate the relationship between parental history of myocardial infarction (MI), lipid traits and gene polymorphisms involved in lipid metabolism, we examined Dutch men and women, who were selected from a large population-based study. Subjects whose father (n=112), mother (n=115) or both parents (n=115) suffered from a premature MI presented with significantly higher apolipoprotein B (apo B) levels than subjects without a parental history (n=114). Genetic analyses revealed that the apo E4 isoform and the D9N mutation of lipoprotein lipase (LPL) were more frequent among subjects with a parental history (P< or =0.05). A similar trend was found for the LPL N291S mutation. In contrast, the LPL S447X mutation and polymorphisms at the cholesteryl ester transfer protein (TaqIB) and apo CIII (SstI) loci proved to be noninformative. Body mass index and lifestyle could not explain differences in apo B levels between parental history groups. In contrast, the apo E polymorphism and the LPL D9N mutation accounted for some, but not all, of the higher apo B levels in subjects with a parental history. Therefore, other genetic or lifestyle-related factors must be responsible for the increased levels of apo B in individuals with a family history of myocardial infarction.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

The relation between plasma cysteine, plasma homocysteine and coronary atherosclerosis.

Several studies have reported that elevated plasma levels of total homocysteine (tHcy) are related to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Only a few studies have looked at the effect of cysteine, another amino thiol, on cardiovascular disease risk. Therefore, in the present case-control study we compared plasma total cysteine (tCys) levels and plasma tHcy levels among subjects with severe coronary atherosclerosis (cases, n=131), subjects without severe coronary atherosclerosis (coronary controls, n=88) and healthy subjects (population-based controls, n=101). Cases were defined as those having > or =90% occlusion in one and > or =40% occlusion in a second coronary artery, while coronary controls had a maximum of 50% occlusion in only one coronary artery. Both males and females, aged 26--64 years were studied. We have previously reported that plasma tHcy is an independent risk factor for coronary atherosclerosis in this study population. In the present analysis, we found that cases had statistically significant higher mean plasma tCys levels than coronary controls and population-based controls (295.8+/-40.2, 279.0+/-35.5 and 282.6+/-32.4 micromol/l, respectively). The odds ratio (OR) of coronary atherosclerosis for the upper tertile of tCys compared with the bottom tertile was 2.5 (95% confidence interval (CI), 1.4--4.3). However, the association between tCys and coronary atherosclerosis was confounded to a great extent by risk factors (OR, 1.0; 95% CI, 0.5--2.0). The multivariate adjusted OR of coronary atherosclerosis per 1 S.D. increase in plasma tCys was 1.0 (95% CI, 0.8--1.3). The corresponding OR per 1 S.D. increase in plasma tHcy was 1.4 (95% CI, 1.1--1.8). We conclude that plasma tCys, unlike plasma tHcy, is not an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Serum bilirubin and 10-year mortality risk in a Belgian population.

OBJECTIVE: The endogenous antioxidant serum bilirubin may scavenge free radicals and protect against free radical-related diseases. METHODS: Using the 10-year follow-up mortality data from the Belgium Inter-university Research on Nutrition and Health (BIRNH) study the association between serum bilirubin and all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality in 5460 men and 4843 women was investigated. RESULTS: In men, with the highest (> or = 0.6 mg/dl) compared with the lowest serum bilirubin concentration (< or = 0.2 mg/dl), the adjusted relative risk (RR) was 0.73 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.57-0.94) for all-cause and 0.42 (95% Cl 0.26-0.68) for cancer mortality. The risk for cancer mortality decreased with increasing concentrations of serum bilirubin (p for trend = 0.004) especially for non-lung cancer mortality (p for trend = 0.02). The associations persisted after adjusting for smoking. In women the associations between serum bilirubin and cancer mortality were in the same direction, but did not reach statistical significance (RR = 0.76, 95% CI 0.39-1.5). No significant associations were found between serum bilirubin and cardiovascular mortality in men and women. CONCLUSIONS: In this population high serum bilirubin, however, within normal ranges, was associated with low cancer mortality, especially in men. This may be due to the antioxidant activity of bilirubin. Measurement of serum bilirubin concentrations may contribute to cancer risk estimation.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Physical exercise and/or enriched foods for functional improvement in frail, independently living elderly: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of an exercise program and an enriched food regimen on physical functioning of frail elderly persons. DESIGN: A 17-week randomized, placebo-controlled trial. SETTING: Community. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred fifty-seven independently living frail elderly (mean age, 78.7 +/- 5.6yr). INTERVENTION: Thirty-nine subjects participated in a twice weekly group exercise designed to improve daily functioning; 39 subjects daily ate foods enriched with vitamins and minerals (at 25%-100% of the recommended daily allowances); 42 subjects exercised and ate enriched foods; and 37 subjects served as controls. Nonexercising groups followed a social program; nonsupplement groups received the same food products without the micronutrients. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Functional performance based on 6 performance tests, physical fitness based on 7 fitness tests, and disabilities based on the self-reported ability to perform 16 daily activities. RESULTS: Performance sum scores were significantly enhanced in trained (+8%) compared with nontrained subjects (-8%) (difference in change: 1.9 points, p < .001, adjusted for baseline scores). Fitness sum scores were significantly enhanced as well (+3% in trained vs -2% in nontrained) (difference in change: 0.9 points, p = .05, adjusted for baseline scores). No exercise effects on the disability score were observed. Consumption of enriched products did not affect performance, fitness, or disability scores. CONCLUSION: Our comprehensive exercise program, designed for widespread applicability, enhanced physical performance and fitness in a population of frail elderly. Daily consumption of micronutrient enriched foods showed no functional benefits within 17 weeks.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2001

Serum carotenoids, alpha-tocopherol and mortality risk in a prospective study among Dutch elderly.

BACKGROUND: Although beta-carotene has shown inverse associations with chronic diseases involving free radical damage in observational epidemiological studies less attention has been paid to five other major carotenoids also showing antioxidant activity in vitro. METHODS: We studied the associations between 7.2-year mortality and serum levels of six carotenoids, and alpha-tocopherol, measured in stored serum, sampled in 1991/1992 during a health survey among 638 independently living elderly subjects aged 65-85 years. Proportional hazards regression was used to estimate hazard ratios of all-cause mortality for the lowest tertiles of serum vitamins with the highest tertiles, adjusting for possible confounding effects. RESULTS: During a follow-up period of 7.2 years 171 elderly died. The adjusted hazard ratios for all-cause mortality for the lowest tertiles of vitamins compared with the highest tertiles were between 1.02 and 1.73. The strongest increase in mortality risk was seen for beta-cryptoxanthin (1.52, 95% CI : 1.00, 2.32), lutein (1.56, 95% CI : 1.05, 2.31) and zeaxanthin (1.32, 95% CI : 0.89, 1.97) and their sum (oxygenated carotenoids: 1.73, 95% CI : 1.12, 2.67). Tests for trend were significant (P < 0.05) for all-cause mortality risk and serum levels of total carotenoids, oxygenated carotenoids and beta-cryptoxanthin. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that serum levels of individual carotenoids, particularly the oxygenated species are inversely associated with all-cause mortality and should be considered as candidates for further investigations.

Aged↗

PubMed2001

Serum bilirubin concentration in a Belgian population: the association with smoking status and type of cigarettes.

BACKGROUND: The endogenous antioxidant serum bilirubin may scavenge free radical species from cigarette smoke. Smokers are expected to have lower serum bilirubin levels than never smokers, but this has never been evaluated in a random population sample of women and men. In addition, in vitro studies indicate that filter cigarette smoke might enhance bilirubin oxidation more than non-filter cigarette smoke. METHODS: In this paper, data were analysed from the Belgian Interuniversity Research on Nutrition and Health (BIRNH) study. We investigated the association of smoking and type of cigarettes with serum bilirubin concentrations in men and women using multiple regression models taking into account differences in baseline and smoking characteristics. RESULTS: In men, current smokers had lower crude and adjusted serum bilirubin concentrations compared with never smokers (P = 0.0001). For women, the association between smoking and serum bilirubin concentrations adjusted for age was in the same direction as for men, but did not reach statistical significance. Male former smokers had serum bilirubin concentrations in between those of current smokers and never smokers, while female former smokers had even higher (+ 0.50 micromol/l) serum bilirubin concentrations than never smokers. Male subjects smoking filter cigarettes showed a higher serum bilirubin concentration than those smoking cigarettes without a filter (adjusted difference: 0.49 micromol/l; P = 0.03). The duration of smoking was inversely and significantly related to serum bilirubin concentrations (P = 0.0003). CONCLUSION: Smoking may lower serum bilirubin concentrations in men, especially in those smoking non-filter cigarettes. The duration of smoking is a more important determinant for serum bilirubin concentrations than the number of cigarettes smoked per day, which may indicate the cumulative negative effects of smoking on the endogenous antioxidant system. Results for females pointed in the same direction, but were less clear, possibly due to low numbers of smoking women, who were largely young and smoked mainly filter cigarettes for a shorter period of time.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Changes in frequency of premature complexes and heart rate variability related to shift work.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether an increased risk of cardiovascular disease might be caused by increased arrhythmogeneity and by unfavourable changes in autonomic cardiac control the changes in the occurrence of premature complexes (PVCs) and in heart rate variability (HRV) were studied in subjects who started to work in shifts. METHODS: 1 Year changes in frequency of PVCs and HRV were measured in 49 shift workers and 22 control subjects working in daytime. All respondents were starting in a new job in integrated circuit or waste incinerator plants. RESULTS: The incidence of PVC increased significantly in shift workers over the 1 year follow up, compared with daytime workers. The frequency of ventricular extrasystoles increased in 48.9% of the shift workers, and in 27.3% of the daytime workers. The Spearman correlation coefficient between the number of nights worked and the change in PVCs was 0.33 (p=0.004). A small non-significant unfavourable change in HRV was found in both the shift and daytime workers. CONCLUSIONS: A change in arrhythmogeneity, but not in cardiac autonomic control, might explain the increased risk of cardiovascular disease in shift workers.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Low heart rate variability in a 2-minute rhythm strip predicts risk of coronary heart disease and mortality from several causes: the ARIC Study. Atherosclerosis Risk In Communities.

BACKGROUND: Low heart rate variability (HRV) is associated with a higher risk of death in patients with heart disease and in elderly subjects and with a higher incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) in the general population. METHODS AND RESULTS: We studied the predictive value of HRV for CHD and death from several causes in a population study of 14 672 men and women without CHD, aged 45 to 65, by using the case-cohort design. At baseline, in 1987 to 1989, 2-minute rhythm strips were recorded. Time-domain measures of HRV were determined in a random sample of 900 subjects, for all subjects with incident CHD (395 subjects), and for all deaths (443 subjects) that occurred through 1993. Relative rates of incident CHD and cause-specific death in tertiles of HRV were computed with Poisson regression for the case-cohort design. Subjects with low HRV had an adverse cardiovascular risk profile and an elevated risk of incident CHD and death. The increased risk of death could not be attributed to a specific cause and could not be explained by other risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: Low HRV was associated with increased risk of CHD and death from several causes. It is hypothesized that low HRV is a marker of less favorable health.

Aged↗