Is the association between salt intake and blood pressure mediated by body mass index and central adiposity?

Objective: to assess the amount of salt intake among normotensive [NT] and prehypertensive [PHT] subjects and to determine whether the association between salt intake and blood pressure is correlated with body weight and waist circumference [WC] or is independent

Methods: a total of 806 NT and PHT subjects from Isfahan Healthy Heart Program [IHHP] were enrolled in the study. A standard questionnaire was used to assess sociodemographic characteristics. The amount of salt intake was measured by the 24-hour urine collection method. Blood pressure, height, weight, and WC were measured based on standard protocols

Results: the mean ages [+/- SD] of NT and PHT subjects were 35.9 [+/- 11.9] and 44.7 [+/- 12.5] years, respectively [P < 0.001]. The mean values of body mass index [BMI] and WC were greater among PHT than NT subjects [BMI: 27.9 +/- 3.8 vs. 25.1 +/- 4.3 kg/m2; P < 0.001 and WC: 90.2 +/- 8.6 vs. 81.2 +/- 11.2 cm; P < 0.001, respectively]. PHT subjects had higher amount of salt intake than NT ones [10.3 +/- 6.2 vs. 12.7 +/- 7.1 g/d, respectively; P = 0.003]. Odds ratio [OR] for being PHT increased significantly across the tertils of salt intake in crude model and sociodemographic- adjusted model. Further adjustment for BMI and WC values weakened the OR for being PHT and showed nonsignificant trend [OR [and 95% CI] for BMI across tertiles of salt intake: 1, 1.26 [0.59 – 2.69], 1.89 [0.93 – 3.81]; P = 0.063 and OR [and 95% CI] for WC across tertiles of salt intake: 1, 1.22 [0.58 – 2.57], 1.79[0.89 – 3.56]; P = 0.082]

Conclusion: the findings of this study suggest that the association between salt intake and blood pressure is related to body weight and WC

Outcomes of a comprehensive healthy lifestyle program on cardiometabolic risk factors in a developing country: the Isfahan healthy heart program

This study evaluated the outcome of a comprehensive, community-based healthy lifestyle program on cardiometabolic risk factors. The Isfahan Healthy Heart Program [IHHP] was a comprehensive action-oriented, multi-component intervention with a quasi-experimental design and reference area. IHHP targeted the population-at-large [n = 2,180,000] in three districts in central Iran. Data from independent sample surveys before [2000 - 2001] and after [2007] this program were used to compare differences in the intervention area and reference area over time after controlling for age, education level and income. The samples in 2000 - 2001 and 2007 included 6175 and 4719 participants in intervention area, and 6339 and 4853 in reference area, respectively. Multiple interventional activities were performed based on the four main strategies of healthy nutrition, increased physical activity, tobacco control and coping with stress. The prevalence of abdominal obesity, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia and high LDL-C decreased significantly in the intervention area versus the reference area in both sexes. However the reduction in overweight and obesity was significant only in females [P < 0.05 for all]. There were no significant changes in the prevalence of diabetes mellitus. In the intervention area, the prevalence of hypercholesterolemia decreased from 23.5% to 12.5% among females without any changes in females in the reference area [p < 0.0001]. In males, hypercholesterolemia decreased significantly in both intervention area [18.5% to 9.6%] and reference area [14.4% to 9.8%; p = 0.005]. Mean triglyceride levels had a significant decrease in the intervention area and a non-significant decrease in the reference area [p < 0.0001]. A comprehensive healthy lifestyle program comprising preventive and promotional activities that considers both population and high risk approaches can be effective in controlling cardiometabolic risk factors in a middle-income country

Effects of olive leaves extract on LDL oxidation induced-CUSO[4] in vitro

Oxidation of low-density lipoprotein [LDL] has been strongly implicated in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. The use of some natural antioxidant and herbal medicine may lead to the inhibition of production of oxidized LDL and may decrease both the development and the progression of atherosclerosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Olive leaves ethanol extract [OLE] on LDL oxidation induced-CuSO[4] quantitatively in vitro. Low-density lipoprotein was incubated with CuSO[4] and the formation of conjugated dienes and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances [TBARS]. Inhibition of this Cu-induced oxidation was studied in the presence of vitamin E and various concentration of OLE. It was demonstrated that OLE reduced the formation of conjugated dienes and TBARS of LDL against oxidation in vitro [P<0.05]. The inhibitory effects of the OLE on LDL oxidation were dose-dependent at concentrations ranging from [2microg/ml] to [200microg/ml]. Moreover, we compared effects of OLE on LDL oxidation with vitamin E as positive control. This study showed that OLE is a source of potent antioxidants and prevented the oxidation of LDL in vitro and it may be suitable for use in food and pharmaceutical applications

relationship between hematologic variables and metabolic syndrome

The relation between hematologic variables and insulin resistance has been reported previously; however, there is still debate about the correlation between hematologic variables and the metabolic syndrome [MetS]. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between MetS and white blood cells [WBC] and red blood cells [RBC]. This cross-sectional study recruited 11974 participants over 19 years old who participated in the Isfahan Healthy Heart Program [IHHP] in Najafabad and Arak, Isfahan. Participants were selected using multi-stage random sampling. A questionnaire about demographic variables, including age, sex, and past medical history, was filled for each participant by a trained nurse, and the participants' blood pressure, height, weight, waist circumference, and other anthropometric variables were recorded by physicians using standard methods. After 12 hours fasting, laboratory parameters, including RBC, WBC, hemoglobin [Hb], and hematocrit, [Hct] together with such biochemical variables as glucose, triglyceride [TG], and HDL-cholesterol were measured. MetS was defined according to the ATP-III criteria. The data were entered in SPSS-11 and analyzed using the t-test and correlation analysis. From the 11974 participants, 6132 [51%] were female. Mean age was 35.6 +/- 3.8 years in the females and 35.9 +/- 32 years in the males. In general, 23.1% of the subjects had MetS: 35% in the females and 10.6% in the males [p<0.05]. WBC and RBC were higher in the subjects with Mets. Regarding the correlation between the hematologic variables and the MetS components, the most significant correlations were seen between TG and WBC [r: 0.195, p<0.001] and HDL-C and RBC [r: -0.245, p<0.001]. According to our findings, high counts of RBC and WBC were observed in those with MetS. The predictive use of these parameters needs further longitudinal

Relation between salt intake and blood pressure among Iranians

To determine the mean 24 hr urinary sodium [UNa] and chloride [UCl] excretion, and the association between these variables and blood pressure, since studies on the effect of habitual dietary salt intake and some electrolytes on blood pressure were reported different. Experimental population-based study Urban areas, Isfahan city, Iran Nine hundred and twelve randomly selected patients aged 20-60 years 24-hour urine and food records were collected three times in one month. Systolic [SBP] and diastolic [DBP] blood pressures, heart rate and sodium, potassium, calcium, chloride and creatinine levels in urine samples were measured. Estimated mean daily salt intake based on UNa excretion in Iranian population is 9.9 + 2.9 g/day [men: 11.1 + 3.0 g/day and women: 9.6 + 2.9 g/day; p = 0.001]. The UNa excretion value was 189.7 + 51.4 mmol for men and 164.6 + 49.8 mmol for women, with a significant difference [p = 0.001]. After adjustment for confounding factors and other urinary electrolytes, no relationship was found between UNa and SBP [b = 0.001, p = 0.89] or DBP [b = 0.007, p = 0.34] in the pooled data. Significant relationship was observed between UCl excretion and SBP in hypertensives [b = 0.113, p = 0.001], UNa excretion and DBP in the entire group [r = 0.04, p = 0.004] and in normotensive men [r = 0.036, p = 0.03]. Salt intake is one of the main factors affecting blood pressure among Iranian men but not women

Smoking habits among an Iranian population

Most surveys have shown that many diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, pulmonary and renal disorders and cancers are being appeared more in smokers or even those of quitting smoking than others have not been smoking at all. Objective[s]: Therefore, we decided to do this study in order to evaluate prevalence, behavioral patterns and other smoking habits among Iranian adults. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 2569 men and women aged >= 19 years randomly selected from 40 random clusters in Isfahan and information were obtained using modified and translated World Health Organization [WHO] standard questionnaires. Blood pressure and heart rate of all participants, were measured based on standardized WHO method. Body mass index [BMI] was calculated using weight and height measurements of subjects. The prevalence of current smoking among men and women aged > 19 years was 18.8% and 1.2%, respectively, and also 26. 1 and 17.4% of nonsmoker women and men were passive smoker. Most of the passive smokers are exposed at home [82%]. More than 80% of smoker men had started smoking before the age of 20 years old. Private jobs and marriage were significantly correlated to smoking [P<0.05]. Contrary to blood pressure, BMI showed significant relationship with smoking [P<0.05]. It is concluded that higher socioeconomic level and the age of less than 20 years old play main roles in smoking prevalence in Iranian adults and therefore necessity of primary prevention in these groups are felt