Correlation between fasting blood sugar and resting blood pressure in teachers residing in Shiraz, Iran 2009

Coronary Artery Disease [CAD] is the major cause of morbidity and mortality. The knowledge about correlation between the different risk factors of CAD provides valuable information for prediction and prevention of the disease in a specific population.The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between fasting blood sugar [FBS] and resting blood pressure in teachers residing in Shiraz, Iran. A total of 3115 teachers from different educational centers of Shiraz, Iran were interviewed in this cross sectional study. The data obtained comprised demographic information including age, sex, and history of hypertension [HTN], diabetes mellitus [DM], and current use of medications. Other parameters measured were height, weight, fasting blood sugar [FBS] and resting blood pressure [BP] as well as calculating the body mass index [BMI]. Out of all the cases studied, undiagnosed and/or untreated cases of diabetes and hypertension were 1.5% and 15.2% respectively. FBS was higher in the elderly and in cases with higher BMI, but without any significant difference in relation to sex. The prevalence of HTN was higher in males, in older cases and in those with higher BMI. A significant relationship was observed between FBS and resting BP in hypertensive and prehypertensive groups [P < 0.001] as compared to normotensive subjects. There was a significant correlation between FBS and resting BP in hypertensive and prehypertensive teachers residing in Shiraz,Iran. But this correlation was not present in the vast majority of the population with normal resting blood pressure. The prevalence of neglected DM and HTN in this population was high enough to warrant regular screening

Correlation between HDL-C and smoking in teachers residing in Shiraz, Iran

It has been established that serum HDL-C is a main predictor for cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship of HDL-C to smoking in teachers residing in Shiraz in order to improve the health status of the group under study and community as a whole. The present study comprised a total of 3115 teachers working in Shiraz recruited in a prospective cohort study. Of these, two groups of 235 smokers and 235 non-smokers were randomly selected for evaluation of cardiovascular risk factors, and to determine any association between serum HDL-C, LDL, triglyceride [TG], systolic and diastolic blood pressure with smoking, gender and BMI. One way ANOVA, Pearson correlation and independent sample t tests by SPSS version 16 were used for statistical analysis and all means were followed by SD. Mean age of subjects was 45.5+/-6.7 years. Of smokers 4.7% were females. Among smokers males had a significantly higher mean of HDL [P=0.002] compared to females [42 vs. 32.4 mg/dl]. HDL level was significantly lower [P<0.001] in heavy smokers compared to non-smokers and light smokers [36.5 vs 41.7 and 43.5]. However, light smokers had a higher mean of HDL than non-smokers, although the difference was not statistically significant [43.5 vs. 41.7 mg/dl, P=0.131]. Serum HDL was not affected by other factors. Smoking was associated with a low serum HDL in the subjects under study who were intellectual class of the population. It is thus warranted to take preventive measures to combat cardiovascular diseases in this sector of community