Abstract
Ischaemic heart disease is one of the leading causes of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Because most factors leading to cardiovascular disease have a silent course, early screening is needed for prevention and for halting disease progression. In our centre, a programme was implemented in apparently healthy subjects for the early diagnosis and treatment of factors known to increment the risk of developing cardiovascular and metabolic disease. We present data from the first 153 individuals evaluated. The incidence of modifiable risk factors in our healthy population was as follows: overweight 33% (BMI: 25–30 kg/m2), obesity 45% (BMI >30 kg/m2), sedentarism 84%, arterial hypertension 15% (>140/90 mm Hg), hyperinsulinaemia 50%, glucose intolerance 14% (>160 mg/dl 120 min after 75 g glucose load), type 2 diabetes mellitus 5%, hypercholesterolaemia 50%, hypertriglyceridaemia 28%, and salt sensitivity 25%. Clustering of three or more cardiovascular risk factors was observed in 59% of the apparently healthy subjects. Obesity was associated with greater clustering of risk factors. The cardiovascular dysmetabolic syndrome was present in 72% of the obese individuals. These findings revealed a very high prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in apparently healthy Hispanics. Even though these individuals were clinically asymptomatic, they are at increased risk for developing cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Mechanisms for the early detection and correction of modifiable risk factors in the healthy population must be implemented. Only through prevention will a reduction in the incidence of cardiovascular atherosclerotic disease and of type 2 diabetes mellitus be achieved.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ueshima H, Tatara KY, Asukura S . Declining mortality from ischemic heart disease and changes in coronary risk factors in Japan, 1956–1980 Am J Epidemiol 1987 125: 62–73
Fagan TC, Deedwania PC . The cardiovascular dysmetabolic syndrome Am J Med 1998 105: 77S–88S
Leary T . The genesis of atherosclerosis Arch Pathol 1941 32: 507–555
Kannel W . Importance of hypertension as a major risk factor in cardiovascular disease In: Genets J et al (eds) Hypertension, Physiopathology and Treatment McGraw Hill: New York 1977 pp 888–910
Laakso M, Lehto S . Epidemiology of risk factors for cardiovascular disease in diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance Atherosclerosis 1998 137: S65–S73
Troiano RP, Frongillo EA Jr, Sobal J, Levitsky DA . The relationship between body weight and mortality: a quantitative analysis of combined informations from existing studies Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1996 20: 63–75
Must A et al. The disease burden associated with overweight and obesity JAMA 1999 282: 1523–1529
Morimoto A et al. Sodium sensitivity and cardiovascular events inpatients with essential hypertension Lancet 1997 350: 1734–1737
Pyorala K et al. Macrovascular complications in relation to hyperinsulinemia in non insulin dependent diabetes mellitus Diabetes Metab 1987 13: 345–349
Paffenbarger RS Jr et al. The association of changes in physical-activity level and other lifestyle characteristics with mortality among men N Engl J Med 1993 328: 538–545
Powell KE . Physical activity and the incidence of coronary heart disease Ann Rev Pub Health 1987 8: 253–287
Berlin JA, Colditz GA . A meta-analysis of physical activity in the prevention of coronary heart disease Am J Epidemiol 1990 132: 612–628
Clad JR, Rosin G . Relationship of plasma insulin levels to the incidence of myocardial infarction and coronary artery disease mortality in middle-aged population Diabetologia 1980 19: 205–210
Zavaroni I et al. Risk factors for coronary artery disease in healthy persons with hyperinsulinemia and normal glucose tolerance N Engl J Med 1989 320: 702–706
Campese VM . Salt sensitivity in hypertension: renal and cardiovascular implications Hypertension 1994 23: 531–550
World Health Organization. Obesity: Preventing and Managing the Global Epidemic World Health Organization: Geneva, Switzerland 1997
American Diabetes Association. Report of the Expert Committee on the Diagnosis and Classification of Diabetes Mellitus (committee report) Diabetes Care 1999 22 (Suppl 1): S5–S19
Alberti KG, Zimmet PZ . Definition, diagnosis and classification of diabetes mellitus and its complications. Part 1: diagnosis and classification of diabetes mellitus provisional report of a WHO consultation Daibet-Med 1998 15: 539–553
Bjornholt JV et al. Fasting blood glucose: an underestimated risk factor for cardiovascular death. Results from a 22-year follow-up of healthy nondiabetic men Diabetes Care 1999 22: 45–49
Flegal KM, Carroll MD, Kuczmarski RJ, Johnson CL . Overweight and obesity in the United States: prevalence and trends, 1960–1994 Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1998 22: 39–47
Jarret RJ, McCartney P, Keen H . The Bedford Survey: ten year mortality rates in newly diagnosed diabetics, borderline diabetics and normoglicemic controls and risk indices for coronary artery disease in borderline diabetics Diabetologia 1982 22: 79–84
MacMahon SW et al. Plasma lipoprotein levels in treated and untreated hypertensive men and women. The National Heart Foundation of Australia Risk Factor Prevalence Study Arteriosclerosis 1985 5: 391–396
Donahue RP et al. Central obesity and coronary heart disease in men Lancet 1987 1: 821–824
Reeder BA et al. Obesity and its relation to cardiovascular disease risk factors in Canadian adults Canadian Heart Health Surveys Research Group
Messerli FH, Nunez BD, Ventura HO, Snyder DW . Overweight and sudden death: increased ventricular ectopy in cardiomiopathy of obesity Arch Intern Med 1987 147: 1725–1728
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Support: Conicit S1–96001890, CDCH F.06.30.4362.99 y CDCH 06.10.4214.98.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hoffmann, I., Cubeddu, L. Clustering of silent cardiovascular risk factors in apparently healthy Hispanics. J Hum Hypertens 16 (Suppl 1), S137–S141 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jhh.1001360
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jhh.1001360
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Predicting coronary heart disease using risk assessment charts and risk factor categories
Journal of Public Health (2021)