RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: Abdominal obesity is considered to be a risk factor for mortality. However, recent studies indicate that overweight may be negatively associated with mortality ("obesity paradox"). The relationships between mortality and various obesity markers in an elderly Asian cohort were evaluated. METHODS: Subjects of the Korean Longitudinal Study on Health and Aging (KLoSHA) (n = 1000, age ≥65 years) were included. The visceral fat area (VFA) and subcutaneous fat area (SFA) were measured using computed tomography. RESULTS: A total of 222 deaths occurred during the 6-year follow-up (median = 5.2 [range 0.1-6.3] years). Body mass index (BMI), VFA, SFA, and total fat mass were negatively associated with all-cause mortality in the univariable analyses (hazard ratio [HR] 0.67 per 1 SD [95% CI 0.57-0.77], 0.66 [0.55-0.79], 0.73 [0.61-0.86], and 0.74 [0.63-0.87], respectively). BMI and VFA were significantly associated with all-cause mortality in the multivariable analyses (HR 0.85 per 1 SD [95% CI 0.73-0.99] and 0.64 [0.47-0.87], respectively). When stratified by quartiles, the HR associated with VFA was the lowest in the third quartile. CONCLUSIONS: In this observational study with a short follow-up of elderly Asian people, higher amounts of visceral fat, a marker for central obesity, were associated with decreased all-cause mortality.
Assuntos
Povo Asiático/estatística & dados numéricos , Gordura Intra-Abdominal , Obesidade Abdominal/mortalidade , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Índice de Massa Corporal , Causas de Morte , Feminino , Seguimentos , Humanos , Incidência , Gordura Intra-Abdominal/diagnóstico por imagem , Estudos Longitudinais , Masculino , Sobrepeso/diagnóstico por imagem , Sobrepeso/mortalidade , Fatores de Risco , Gordura Subcutânea/diagnóstico por imagem , Tomografia Computadorizada por Raios XRESUMO
BACKGROUND: There is a positive association between chronic inflammation and the risk of cardiovascular disease, but whether there is an association between C-reactive protein (CRP) and carotid atherosclerosis is controversial. We investigated the relationship between high-sensitivity CRP (hsCRP) levels and carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) in healthy Koreans. DESIGN: We measured hsCRP levels, the carotid IMT, and conventional cardiovascular risk factors including obesity parameters, blood pressure, lipid profiles, insulin resistance, and smoking habits in 820 volunteers (35-79 years old) in a cross-sectional study. RESULTS: Higher hsCRP quartile groups had higher mean IMTs, as compared with the lowest quartile (P < 0.001 for the trend across quartiles). However, after adjustment for age, the relationship between hsCRP level and IMT was substantially weaker (P = 0.018). After additional adjustments for conventional cardiovascular risk factors, no significant association was observed (P = 0.548). The unadjusted risk for a high carotid IMT value (> or = 1.0 mm) was also positively related to hsCRP quartile, but this relationship was not significant after adjustment for age and other cardiovascular risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: Both hsCRP levels and the carotid IMT were strongly correlated with conventional cardiovascular risk factors, but there was no independent association between hsCRP levels and carotid IMT in healthy Korean adults.