Associations of Dietary Cholesterol Consumption With Incident Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease: The Role of Genetic Variability in Cholesterol Absorption and Disease Predisposition.

OBJECTIVE: Whether genetic susceptibility to disease and dietary cholesterol (DC) absorption contribute to inconsistent associations of DC consumption with diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains unclear. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: DC consumption was assessed by repeated 24-h dietary recalls in the UK Biobank. A polygenetic risk score (PRS) for DC absorption was constructed using genetic variants in the Niemann-Pick C1-Like 1 and ATP Binding Cassettes G5 and G8 genes. PRSs for diabetes, coronary artery disease, and stroke were also created. The associations of DC consumption with incident diabetes (n = 96,826) and CVD (n = 94,536) in the overall sample and by PRS subgroups were evaluated using adjusted Cox models. RESULTS: Each additional 300 mg/day of DC consumption was associated with incident diabetes (hazard ratio [HR], 1.17 [95% CI, 1.07-1.27]) and CVD (HR, 1.09 [95% CI, 1.03-1.17]), but further adjusting for BMI nullified these associations (HR for diabetes, 0.99 [95% CI, 0.90-1.09]; HR for CVD, 1.04 [95% CI, 0.98-1.12]). Genetic susceptibility to the diseases did not modify these associations (P for interaction ≥0.06). The DC-CVD association appeared to be stronger in people with greater genetic susceptibility to cholesterol absorption assessed by the non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol-related PRS (P for interaction = 0.04), but the stratum-level association estimates were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: DC consumption was not associated with incident diabetes and CVD, after adjusting for BMI, in the overall sample and in subgroups stratified by genetic predisposition to cholesterol absorption and the diseases. Nevertheless, whether genetic predisposition to cholesterol absorption modifies the DC-CVD association requires further investigation.

Lifestyle Behaviors and Cardiometabolic Diseases by Race and Ethnicity and Social Risk Factors Among US Young Adults, 2011 to 2018.

Background Cardiometabolic health has been worsening among young adults, but the prevalence of lifestyle risk factors and cardiometabolic diseases is unclear. Methods and Results Adults aged 18 to 44 years were included from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2011 to 2018. Age-standardized prevalence of lifestyle risk factors and cardiometabolic diseases was estimated overall and by demographic and social risk factors. A set of multivariable logistic regressions was sequentially performed by adjusting for age, sex, social risk factors, and lifestyle factors to determine whether racial and ethnic disparities in the prevalence of cardiometabolic diseases may be attributable to differences in social risk factors and lifestyle factors. Appropriate weights were used to ensure national representativeness of the estimates. A total of 10 405 participants were analyzed (median age, 30.3 years; 50.8% women; 32.3% non-Hispanic White). The prevalence of lifestyle risk factors ranged from 16.3% for excessive drinking to 49.3% for poor diet quality. The prevalence of cardiometabolic diseases ranged from 4.3% for diabetes to 37.3% for dyslipidemia. The prevalence of having ≥2 lifestyle risk factors was 45.2% and having ≥2 cardiometabolic diseases was 22.0%. Racial and ethnic disparities in many cardiometabolic diseases persisted but were attenuated after adjusting for social risk factors and lifestyle factors. Conclusions The prevalence of lifestyle risk factors and cardiometabolic diseases was high among US young adults and varied by race and ethnicity and social risk factors. Racial and ethnic disparities in the prevalence of cardiometabolic diseases were not fully explained by differences in social risk factors and lifestyle factors.

The general public's ability to operate automated external defibrillator: A controlled simulation study.

BACKGROUND: Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) enable laypeople to provide early defibrillations to patients undergoing cardiac arrest, but scant information is available on the general public's ability to use AEDs. This study assessed the ability of laypeople to operate AEDs, the effect of a 15-minute training, and whether skills differed by age. METHODS: From May 1 to December 31, 2018, a prospective simulation study was conducted with 94 laypeople aged 18-65 years (32 aged 18-24 years, 34 aged 25-54 years, and 28 aged 55-65 years) with no prior AED training. The participants' AED skills were assessed individually pre-training, post-training, and at a three-month follow-up using a simulated cardiac arrest scenario. The critical actions and time intervals were evaluated during the AED operating process. RESULTS: Only 14 (14.9%) participants (eight aged 18-24 years, four aged 25-54 years, and two aged 55-65 years) successfully delivered defibrillations before training. AED operation errors were more likely to occur among the participants aged 55-65 years than among other age groups. After training, the proportion of successful defibrillations increased significantly (18-24 years old: 25.0% vs. 71.9%, P<0.01; 25-54 years old: 11.8% vs. 70.6%, P<0.01; 55-65 years old: 7.1% vs. 67.9%, P<0.01). After three months, 26.1% of the participants aged 55-65 years successfully delivered defibrillations, which was significantly lower than that of participants aged 18-24 years (54.8%) and 25-54 years (64.3%) (P=0.02). There were no differences in time measures among three age groups in each test. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of untrained laypeople cannot effectively operate AEDs. More frequent training and refresher courses are crucial to improve AED skills.