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Item Genetic, dietary, and other lifestyle determinants of serum homocysteine levels in young adults in Costa Rica(Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, vol17(4), 2005) Holst Schumacher, Ileana; Monge Rojas, Rafael; Cambronero Gutiérrez, Priscilla; Brenes Camacho, GilbertObjective: Elevated serum total homocysteine (tHcy) is considered an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The objective of this study was to develop the first-ever information on the prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia and its determinants in a population in Costa Rica. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine serum levels of tHcy, vitamin B12, folate and creatinine, as well as the presence of the genotype TT for the methylentetratrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) enzyme. Additionally, dietary vitamin intakes and other lifestyle risk factors were assessed. A total of 399 Costa Rican adults from the central valley of the country (where the capital city, San José, is located), aged 20 to 40 years, participated in this study in the year 2000. Analyses of variance were performed for continuous variables, and the chi-square test was used for categorical data. Spearman correlation tests were calculated to determine associations between variables. Three linear regression analyses and one binary logistic model were developed in order to determine the predictors for homocysteine levels in the population studied. Results: The overall prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia ( over 15 umol/L) in the population was 6%, 31% of the population were in the range of 10 to 15 umol/L, 29% had the genotype TT for the enzyme MTHFR, 18% presented a vitamin B12 deficiency ( less 165 pmol/L), and none of the persons had low serum folate levels (less 7,0 nmol/l). No significant associations were found between tHcy and age, smoking, consuming alcohol, or dietary vitamin intake. Conclusions: Only serum vitamin B12 levels and the genotype TT of the enzyme MTHFR were considered significant predictors of high serum tHcy levels in the Costa Rica population studied.Item Factors associated with hypertension prevalence, unawareness and treatment among Costa Rican elderly(BMC Public Health 8(275), 2008) Méndez Chacón, Ericka; Santamaría Ulloa, Carolina; Rosero Bixby, LuisBackground: Reliable information on the prevalence of hypertension is crucial in the development of health policies for prevention, control, and early diagnosis of this condition. This study describes the prevalence of hypertension among Costa Rican elderly, and identifies co-factors associated with its prevalence, unawareness and treatment. Methods: The prevalence of hypertension is estimated for the Costa Rican elderly. Measurement error is assessed, and factors associated with high blood pressure are explored. Data for this study came from a nationally representative sample of about 2,800 individuals from CRELES (Costa Rica: Longevity and Healthy Aging Study). Two blood pressure measures were collected using digital monitors. Self reprts of previous diagnosis, and medications taken were also recorded as part of the study. Results: No evidence of information bias was found among interviewers, or over time. Hypertension prevalence in elderly Costa Ricans was found to be 65% (Males = 60%, Females = 69%). Twenty-five percent of the studied population did not reprt previous diagnoses of hypertension, but according to our measurement they had high blood pressure. The proportion of unaware men is higher than the proportion of unaware women (32% vs. 20%). The main factors associated with hypertension are: age, being overweight or obese, and family history of hypertension. For men, current smokers are 3 times more likely to be unaware of their condition than non smokers. Both men and women are less likely to be unaware of their condition if they have a family history of hypertension. Those women who are obese, diabetic, have suffered heart disease or stroke, or have been home visited by community health workers are less likely to be unaware of their hypertension. The odds of being treated are higher in educated individuals, those with a family history of hypertension, elderly with diabetes or those who have had heart disease. Conclusion: Sex differences in terms of hypertension prevalence, unawareness, and treatment in elderly people have been found. Despite national programs for hypertension detection and education, unawareness of hypertension remains high, particularly among elderly men. Modifiable factors identified to be associated with prevalence such as obesity and alcohol intake could be used in educational programs aimed at the detection and treatment of those individuals who have the conditionItem Differences in the association of cardiovascular risk factors with education: a comparison of Costa Rica (CRELES) and the USA (NHANES)(J Epidemiol Community Health 2010: 64, 2009) Rehkopf, David H.; Dow, William H.; Rosero Bixby, LuisBackground Despite different levels of economic development, Costa Rica and the USA have similar mortalities among adults. However, in the USA there are substantial differences in mortality by educational attainment, and in Costa Rica there are only minor differences. This contrast motivates an examination of behavioural and biological correlates underlying this difference. Methods The authors used data on adults aged 60 and above from the Costa Rican Longevity and Healthy Ageing Study (CRELES) (n¼2827) and from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) (n¼5607) to analyse the cross-sectional association between educational level and the following risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD): ever smoked, current smoker, sedentary, high saturated fat, high carbohydrates, high calorie diet, obesity, severe obesity, large waist circumference, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, hemoglobin A1c, fasting glucose, C-reactive protein, systolic blood pressure and BMI. Results There were significantly fewer hazardous levels of risk biomarkers at higher levels of education for more than half (10 out of 17) of the risk factors in the USA, but for less than a third of the outcomes in Costa Rica (five out of 17). Conclusions These results are consistent with the context-specific nature of educational differences in risk factors for CVD and with a non-uniform nature of association of CVD risk factors with education within countries. Our results also demonstrate that social equity in mortality is achieved without uniform equity in all risk factors.Item Predicting mortality with biomarkers : a population-based prospective cohort study for elderly Costa Ricans(Population Health Metrics 10(1), 2012) Rosero Bixby, Luis; Dow, William H.Background: Little is known about adult health and mortality relationships outside high-income nations, partly because few datasets have contained biomarker data in representative populations. Our objective is to determine the prognostic value of biomarkers with respect to total and cardiovascular mortality in an elderly population of a middle-income country, as well as the extent to which they mediate the effects of age and sex on mortality. Methods: This is a prospective population-based study in a nationally representative sample of elderly Costa Ricans. Baseline interviews occurred mostly in 2005 and mortality follow-up went through December 2010. Sample size after excluding observations with missing values: 2,313 individuals and 564 deaths. Main outcome: prospective death rate ratios for 22 baseline biomarkers, which were estimated with hazard regression models. Results: Biomarkers significantly predict future death above and beyond demographic and self-reprted health conditions. The studied biomarkers account for almost half of the effect of age on mortality. However, the sex gap in mortality became several times wider after controlling for biomarkers. The most powerful predictors were simple physical tests: handgrip strength, pulmonary peak flow, and walking speed. Three blood tests also predicted prospective mortality: C-reactive protein (CRP), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS). Strikingly, high blood pressure (BP) and high total cholesterol showed little or no predictive power. Anthropometric measures also failed to show significant mortality effects. Conclusions: This study adds to the growing evidence that blood markers for CRP, HbA1c, and DHEAS, along with organ-specific functional reserve indicators (handgrip, walking speed, and pulmonary peak flow), are valuable tools for identifying vulnerable elderly. The results also highlight the need to better understand an anomaly noted previously in other settings: despite the continued medical focus on drugs for BP and cholesterol, high levels of BP and cholesterol have little predictive value of mortality in this elderly population.Item Major cardiovascular risk factors in Latin America: a comparison with the United States. The Latin American consortium of studies in obesity (LASO)(PLOS ONE, vol.8(1), 2013) Miranda Montero, Jaime J.; Herrera Galindo, Víctor Mauricio; Chirinos Medina, Julio A.; Gómez Gutiérrez, Luis Fernando; Perel, Pablo; Pichardo Estevez, Rafael; González Medina, Angel; Sánchez Abanro, José Ramón; Ferreccio, Catterina; Aguilera Sanhueza, Ximena; Silva, Eglé; Oróstegui, Myriam; Medina Lezama, Josefina; Pérez, Cynthia M.; Suárez, Erick; Ortiz Martínez, Ana Patricia; Rosero Bixby, Luis; Schapochnik, Noberto; Ortiz, Zulma; Ferrante, Daniel; Casas, Juan P.; Bautista Lorenzo, Leonelo EnriqueLimited knowledge on the prevalence and distribution of risk factors impairs the planning and implementation of cardiovascular prevention programs in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region. For the last two decades cardiovascular diseases have been the main cause of death in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). [1] Cardiovascular mortality rates continue to increase in most LAC countries, and in those countries where rates have declined the blunting of the trend has been considerably lower than in the United Sates (US). [2]. Data on the distribution of cardiovascular risk factors in LAC region are limited, and the few studies available show significant variation in the levels of prevalence. For instance, the CARMELA study, [3] conducted in seven major urban cities from LAC, reprted markedly different hypertension levels. For instance, hypertension prevalence in Santiago (Chile), Buenos Aires (Argentina), and Barquisimeto (Venezuela), ranged from 24% to 29%, whereas in Quito (Ecuador), Bogotá (Colombia), Mexico City (Mexico), and Lima (Peru) varied from 9% to 13%. Yet, diabetes prevalence in these cities was similar to world’s estimates, around 7%. [3] Differences in rural-urban residence, socioeconomic development, and internal migration patterns could partly explain the contrasting profiles of cardiovascular risk factors, but knowledge on this regard is also very limited. This scarcity of data on the distribution of risk factors and, in turn, on their impact on incidence and mortality hampers efforts to curtail the growing epidemic of cardiovascular disease in LAC. In fact, national and regional health policies have been customarily based on estimates of the burden of risk factors and disease that rely heavily on demographic profiles. [4]. Here we reprt the distribution of cardiovascular risk factors using data from population-based studies from eight LAC countries. We also compare the distribution of cardiovascular risk factors in LAC and the US, as a way to illustrate the current stage of LAC in the process of the epidemiological transition. Insight into the specific differences in the distribution of risk factors in the LAC and US populations is important to foresee future trends in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in the region.Item Pulse blood pressure and cardiovascular mortality in a population-based cohort of elderly Costa Ricans(Journal of Human Hypertension; Volumen 30, Número 9, 2016) Rosero Bixby, Luis; Coto Yglesias, Fernando; Dow, William H.We studied the relationships between blood pressure (BP), pulse pressure (PP) and cardiovascular (CV) death in older adults using data from 2346 participants enrolled in the Costa Rican CRELES study, mean age 76 years (s.d. 10.2), 31% qualified as wide PP. All covariates included and analyzed were collected prospectively as part of a 4-year home-based follow-up; mortality was tracked for an additional 3 years, identifying 266 CV deaths. Longitudinal data revealed little change over time in systolic BP (SBP), a decline in diastolic BP, and widening of PP. Wide PP was associated with higher risk of CV death but only among individuals receiving antihypertensive drug therapy. Individuals with both wide PP and receiving therapy had 2.6 hazard rate of CV death relative to people with normal-PP plus not taking treatment (TRT), even adjusting for SBP. Increasing PP between visits was significantly associated to higher CV death independently of TRT status. SBP and DBP were not significantly associated to CV death when the effect of PP was controlled for. Conclusion: elderly hypertensive patients with wide or increasing PP, especially if receiving TRT, are the highest CV risk group, thus must be carefully assessed, monitored and treated with caution.Item Life-course BMI and biomarkers in persons aged 60 years or older: a comparison of the USA and Costa Rica(Public Health Nutrition, vol.22(2), 2019) Rehkopf, David H.; Duong, Andrew; Dow, William H.; Rosero Bixby, LuisObjective: There is a large literature linking current body mass index (BMI) to levels of cardiovascular risk biomarkers, but it is unknown whether measures of BMI earlier in the life course and maximum BMI are predictive of current levels of biomarkers. The objective of this study is to determine how current, maximum and age 25 body mass index among individuals over the age of 60 are associated with their current levels of cardiovascular risk biomarkers. Design: Cross-sectional study with retrospective recall. Setting: Costa Rica (n=821) and the United States (n=4110). Subjects: Nationally representative samples of adults aged 60 and over. Results: We used regression models to examine the relationship between multiple meaures of body mass index with four established cardiovascular risk biomarkers. The most consistent predictor of current levels of systolic blood pressure, triglycerides and HDL cholesterol is current BMI. However, maximum BMI is the strongest predictor of hemoglobin A1c and is also related to HDL cholesterol and triglycerides. Hemoglobin A1c is independent of current BMI. We find that these relationships are consistent between Costa Rica and the United States for hemoglobin A1c and for HDL cholesterol. Conclusions: Current levels of cardiovascular risk biomarkers are not only the product of current levels of BMI, but also of maximum lifetime BMI, in particular for levels of hemoglobin A1c and for HDL cholesterol. Managing maximum obtained BMI over the life course may be most critical for maintaining the healthiest levels of cardiovascular risk.