Coarse brown rice increases fecal and large bowel short-chain fatty acids and starch but lowers calcium in the large bowel of pigs.

Young male pigs were fed a diet formulated from human foods including either boiled white rice plus rice bran or heat-stabilized brown rice at equivalent levels of fiber for 3 wk. Stool and starch excretion were low in pigs fed white rice during the first 2 wk of the experiment. In pigs fed brown rice, their excretion was high during wk 1 but declined in wk 2 while short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) excretion was higher at both times. Large bowel digesta mass, measured during wk 3, was higher in pigs fed brown rice but only in the proximal colon. Large bowel and fecal starch concentrations were higher in pigs fed brown rice but the difference was insufficient to explain the increase in large bowel digesta mass. In pigs with a cecal cannula, digesta starch concentrations were equally higher when white or brown rice was fed compared with the corresponding rice which had been finely milled, indicating that particle size was a determinant of ileal digestibility. Concentrations and pools of total and individual SCFA were higher in all regions of the colon but not the cecum of pigs fed brown rice. Large bowel Ca(2+) concentrations were lower in pigs fed brown rice, suggesting greater absorption. The data confirm earlier findings that brown rice raises large bowel digesta mass and SCFA through greater fermentation of starch but show that starch itself makes a relatively small contribution to digesta and stool mass. Apparently, the rate of passage of digesta is a determinant of the concentrations and pools of SCFA in the distal colon and in feces.

Prevalence of hypertension in Kimberley aborigines and its relationship to ischaemic heart disease. An age-stratified random survey.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the age-specific prevalence of systolic and diastolic hypertension and of electrocardiographic abnormalities in the Aboriginal population of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. DESIGN AND SETTING: Age and sex stratified random samples of the Aboriginal population of the Kimberley region were selected and located. Measurements were made of systolic and diastolic blood pressure and electrocardiograms (ECG) were recorded. Hypertension was defined as a systolic blood pressure of 160 mmHg or greater or diastolic blood pressure of 95 mmHg or greater. ECG abnormalities were classified by the Minnesota system. PARTICIPANTS: Measurements were made on 249 men and 241 women distributed in seven age bands above 15 years and representing 78% of the selected men and 76% of the selected women. INTERVENTIONS: In addition to ECG and blood pressure, measurements were made of height and weight and information was obtained on medication, smoking, drinking and diet. A sample of venous blood was obtained. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The data obtained on blood pressure, hypertension and ECG abnormalities were compared with existing data on Caucasian and Aboriginal Australians. RESULTS: Aboriginal men below the age of 30 years showed particularly high blood pressure compared with Caucasian men. The overall prevalence of hypertension in Aboriginal men 50 years of age and older was 45%. The prevalence of hypertension among Aboriginal women increased sharply from 35 years of age with a maximum between 55 and 65 years. The overall prevalence of hypertension in women 50 years of age and older was 50%. By regression, the average systolic/diastolic blood pressure at 40 years was 137/85 mmHg for men and 135/83 mmHg for women. ECG abnormalities indicating ischaemic heart disease (IHD) were more prevalent in both male and female Aborigines than had been found for Caucasians in 1966. In both sexes IHD and especially code 1.1 indicating myocardial infarct were associated with systolic hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of both systolic and diastolic hypertension and of probable IHD was two to three times higher in Kimberley Aborigines than in Caucasian Australians. ECG evidence of infarct was significantly related to systolic hypertension in both sexes.

Risk factors for hypertension in Kimberley aborigines.

OBJECTIVE: To determine physical, biochemical and lifestyle factors associated with high blood pressure among Aborigines in the Kimberley region. DESIGN: Blood pressure and electrocardiographic (ECG) abnormalities in an age and sex stratified random sample of the Aboriginal population were related to other observations and measurements made at the same time specifically for the purpose of these comparisons. SETTING: A field study in which subjects were interviewed and measurements made mostly in community clinics. PARTICIPANTS: All 249 men and 241 women from the prevalence study were included although only complete data sets for the various comparisons were analysed. INTERVENTIONS: A sample of venous blood was obtained in addition to physical measurements and information at interview. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Statistical analysis of the relationships between blood pressure or hypertension and alcohol consumption, plasma gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) activity, use of tobacco, body mass index (BMI, kg/m2) and non-fasted plasma cholesterol level. Hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure of 160 mmHg or greater or diastolic blood pressure of 95 mmHg or greater. RESULTS: High blood pressure in Aboriginal men below 30 years was associated both with current drinking status and with circulating GGT level. There was a positive association of diastolic hypertension with consumption of alcohol in middle aged men (30 to 49 years) and in older women. Drinking was highly prevalent among men, especially below 30 years, but was less prevalent among women. Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure were positively related to BMI across the population but obesity (BMI greater than or equal to 30 kg/m2) was highly prevalent only among middle-aged women. Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure were positively and strongly related to plasma cholesterol level independently of the latter's relationship to age and BMI. CONCLUSION: The high prevalence of drinking among Aboriginal men and of obesity among Aboriginal women involves a risk of hypertension. The association between plasma cholesterol and blood pressure in Aboriginal men and women may be relevant to the demonstrated link between systolic hypertension and ischaemic heart disease.

Report of the Australian and New Zealand combined dialysis and transplant registry.

In Australia, 463 patients (32/1,000,000 population) commenced commercial treatment by dialysis in 1979. In all, 1266 dialysis patients (88/1,000,000) were receiving treatment at October 31, 1979, 47% by home dialysis. In 1979, 316 transplants (22/1,000,000) were performed. Of 1237 functioning grafts (86/1,000,000) at October 31, 1979, 89% were primary grafts; 6.5 of all functioning grafts were from a living donor. During 1979, the number of dialysis patients exceeded that of patients with a functioning transplant for the first time since the Registry was started. Amongst new patients, in 1979, glomerulonephritis (35%), analgesic nephropathy (19%), polycystic renal disease (9%), and reflux nephropathy (7%) were the more common primary renal diseases. Four per cent of patients had diabetic renal failure. The proportion of new patients over 50 years of age increased from 31% in 1973 to 46% in 1979; 14% were 60 years old or older in 1979. In 1975-1978, the three-year patient survival for integrated treatment (dialysis and/or transplantation) was 65%; the age-related patient survival at three years was approximately 80% for those under 40 years of age, 60% for those from 40 to 59 years of age, and 40% for patients over 60 years of age. The three-year patient survival for dialysis was 66%, and that for primary cadaver transplantation was 69%. Cadaver-donor primary graft survival was 51% at one year, and 43% at three years after transplantation. In New Zealand, during 1979, 88 patients (28/1,000,000 of population) commenced treatment for the first time, 68 transplants (22/1,000,000) were performed, and the number of patients with a functioning graft was equalled for the first time by that of patients receiving dialysis treatment (64/1,000,000). Forty-eight per cent of dialysis patients were receiving treatment at home. Forty per cent of new patients in 1979 had glomerulonephritis, while only 3% had analgesic nephropathy.