Association between serum ferritin and acute coronary heart disease: A population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Several studies aiming to determine the association between iron stores and coronary heart disease (CHD) have reported conflicting results. None of them has been performed in a Mediterranean region. Our aim is to assess the association between the level of serum ferritin and the incidence of CHD in a Mediterranean region. METHODS: We performed a cohort study using a primary health care population database. Primary outcome was incidence of CHD. Subjects aged between 35 and 74 years with serum ferritin (SF) measurements at baseline (January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2008) were included. Cox regression models were used to compute hazard ratios (HRs) and 95%CIs for the associtation between SF and time until CHD outcome. RESULTS: We include 242,084 subjects with SF levels at baseline. Participants were observed for a median of 8.4 years. During follow-up, 1106 incident cases of CHD were identified. Persons with elevated SF did not have an increased CHD risk at follow-up (adjusted hazard ratio = 0.99; 95%CI 0.94-1.05; p = 0.86 in men, and 0.95; 95%CI 0.81-1.13; p = 0.60 in women). CONCLUSIONS: Our study, by far the largest, showed that high levels of SF do not confer an increased risk of CHD, and questions its role as a risk factor for this disease.

Relation between positive and negative maternal emotional states and obstetrical outcomes.

The objective of this research was to study whether positive and negative maternal emotional states were related to obstetrical outcomes in 205 women who participated in a study conducted between 2004 and 2007 in the Sant Joan University Hospital of Reus, Spain. Maternal anxiety and positive emotional states were assessed using the State Trait Anxiety Inventory. The obstetrical outcomes of interest were gestational age at birth, birth weight, and mode of delivery. More women with lower anxiety levels and a more positive state of mind had normal deliveries. Anxiety was related to lower birth weight and to difficult delivery. A positive state of mind and emotional stability were associated with having a normal delivery. Therefore, moderate levels of anxiety were associated with complications during delivery and poorer fetal outcomes, whereas a positive state of mind was associated with better childbirth experiences.