Search

Purpose: To examine prospectively the relationship between vegetable consumption and long-term survival.Methods: In 1965, a total of 1536 Italian males from two Italian rural cohorts of the Seven Countries Study, aged 45-65 years, were examined. Information on lifestyle and food consumption collected at this visit, and total and cause-specific mortality data collected in 30 years of follow-up were analyzed for the present study.Results: During a period of 30 years, 1096 deaths occurred (308 from coronary heart disease, 325 from cancer, 158 from cerebrovascular disease and 305 from all other causes). The age-adjusted life expectancy for men consuming more than 60 g/day of vegetables was nearly 2 years longer than for men consuming less than 20 g/day. This increase in survival was more striking in smokers than nonsmokers (2.1 vs. a 1 year gain). The association also held for both geographic cohorts, although the pattern of vegetable consumption was very different in the two villages.Conclusions: The results suggest a positive association between vegetable intake and life expectancy. Vegetable intake may be especially protective for smokers although the biological explanation for such an effect is unclear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to verify the independent role of heart rate in the prediction of all-cause, cardiovascular, and noncardiovascular mortality in a low-risk male population. METHODS: In an Italian population-based observational study, heart rate was measured in 2533 men, aged 40 to 69 years, between 1984 and 1993. Data on cardiovascular risk factors were collected according to standardized procedures. Vital status was updated to December 1997. RESULTS: Of 2533 men followed up (representing 24,457 person-years), 393 men died. Age-adjusted death rates for 5 heart rate levels showed increasing trends. The adjusted hazard rate ratios for each heart rate increment were 1.52 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.29, 1.78) for all-cause mortality, 1.63 (95% CI = 1.26, 2.10) for cardiovascular mortality, and 1.47 (95% CI = 1.19, 1.80) for noncardiovascular mortality. Relative risks between extreme levels were more than 2-fold for all endpoints considered. CONCLUSIONS: Heart rate is an independent predictor of cardiovascular, noncardiovascular, and total mortality in this Italian middle-aged male population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents an analysis of a study of men aged 40-59 representing two demographic samples of rural areas in northern and central Italy and the follow-up study conducted 25 years later that explored possible objective indicators of physical fitness. The subjects; Individual characteristics that were measured; Description of the analysis; Results; Discussion.

Background: Samples of railroad male employees aged 40-59 were examined from companies operating in the northwest quadrant of the US in the late 1950s (n = 2571), and in Rome and surroundings. Italy in the early 1960s (n = 768) in an international co-operative study on cardiovascular diseases.Methods: A number of cardiovascular risk factors (age, blood pressure, serum cholesterol, body mass index, subscapular skinfold, physical activity, smoking habits) were measured at year 0 and year 5, while data on mortality and causes of death were collected for 25 years.Results: Coronary heart disease (CHD) death rates were always higher in the US than in Italy; after 25 years the excess was 51%. Cox proportional hazards models with CHD deaths as endpoint and seven CHD risk factors as covariates showed only the coefficients for age and smoking habits statistically different between the two cohorts. Changes in systolic blood pressure during the first 5-year follow-up were additional predictors of 5- to 25-year CHD mortality in both groups. Cholesterol plus age (greater in the US), subscapular skinfold (greater in the US) and body mass index (greater in Italy) 'explained' 67% of the observed differences in 25-year CHD mortality in the two cohorts.Conclusions: A large proportion of differential CHD mortality can be attributed to some traditional risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Menotti A (Laboratory of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Istituto Superiore di Sanitá, I-00161, Rome, Italy), Keys A, Blackburn H, Aravanis C, Dontas A, Fidanza F, Giampaoli S, Karvonen M, Kromhout D, Nedeljkovic S, Nissinen A, Pekkanen J, Punsar S, Seccareccia F and Toshima H. Twenty-year stroke mortality and prediction in twelve cohorts of the Seven Countries Study. 1990; : 309–315. Twelve cohorts of men aged 40–59 for a total of 8287 individuals in six countries (Finland, the Netherlands, Italy, Yugoslavia, Greece and Japan) were examined in the late 1950s or early 1960s for the measurement of some risk factors and then followed up for mortality and causes of death through 20 years. Large differences in 20-year death rates from stroke were recorded among cohorts, with the highest levels in the pool of the Yugoslavia (67 per 1000) and Japanese cohorts (62 per 1000) and the lowest in the Dutch cohort (22 per 1000). The simple linear correlation (among cohorts) of stroke mortality on mean levels at entry of some factors showed inverse significant coefficients for systolic (−0.63) diastolic (−0.51) and mean blood pressure (−0.72), and for serum cholesterol (−0.72), whereas no significant coefficients were found for mean body mass index, mean cigarette consumption and mean physical activity. The Cox model solved for six national pools of cohorts showed that only age and mean blood pressure carry significant positive coefficients, whereas all the other available factors (cigarette consumption, serum cholesterol, body mass index, physical activity) did not approach significant levels except the negative coefficients of smoking habits in Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Menotti A (Laboratory of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Istituto Superiore di Sanita', Viale Regina Elena, 299 I-00161, Rome, Italy) and Seccareccia F. Cardiovascular risk factors predicting all causes of death in an occupational population sample. , 1988, 17: 773–778. A group of 768 men aged 40–59 at entry examination and belonging to an occupational sample of railroad employees in Rome have been examined for the measurement of some risk factors and followed-up for 20 years. In all 676 men, free from life-threatening diseases and with all measurements available, produced 166 fatal events in 20 years. Out of the 27 different personal characteristics considered only six contributed significantly to the multivariate prediction of all causes of death in the Cox proportional hazards computed by the forward stepwise technique. The factors predicting all causes of death were age, cigarette smoking, diabetes, blood pressure, mother's vital status and baing on a diet prescribed by a doctor. The relative risk of those located in the upper decile of the estimated risk as compared to the bottom decile was 8.2. The results do not differ much from those obtained in a demographic sample studied in the same way. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To evaluate the relation of body mass index (BMI) to short-term mortality in a large Italian population sample. Within the Italian RIFLE pooling project, BMI was measured in 47 population samples made of 32,741 men and 30,305 women ages 20-69 years (young 20-44, mature 45-69). Data on mortality were collected for the next six years. Age adjusted death rates in quintile classes of BMI and Cox proportional hazards models with six year all causes mortality as end point, BMI as covariate and age, smoking, systolic blood pressure as possible confounders were computed. Multivariate analysis was tested in all subjects and after the exclusion of smokers, early (first two years) deaths, and both categories. The univariate analysis failed to demonstrate in all cases a U or inverse J shaped relation. The Cox coefficients for the linear and quadratic terms of BMI proved significant for both young and mature women. The minimum of the curve was located at 27.0 (24.0, 30.0, 95% confidence limits, CL) and 31.8 (25.5, 38.2, 95% CL) units of BMI, for young and mature women respectively. Similar findings were obtained even when exclusion were performed. No relation was found for young men while for mature adult men only the model for all subjects retained significant curvilinear relation (minimum 29.3; 22.4, 36.2, 95% CL). These uncommon high values of BMI carrying the minimum risk of death seems to be in contrast with weight guidelines. A confirmation of these findings in other population groups might induce the consideration of changes in the suggested healthy values of BMI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1960–61 two pooled Greek rural populations totalling 1215 men aged 40–59 years were followed-up for 25 years. A Cox model analysis of fatal coronary events over 15 years showed that serum cholesterol in men aged 40–59 years, cholesterol in men aged 45–64 years, and systolic blood pressure in men aged 50–69 played a predictive role. The coefficient of age became more signficant with advancing age and that of cigarette smoking only at 25 years follow-up. The coefficient of cholesterol decreased stepwise and became negative for men aged 50–69; body mass index was without effect in any follow-up of these cohorts. Systolic blood pressure and serum cholesterol increased in these populations by 5.4 mmHg and 23.5 mg . dl (0.61 mmol. l), respectively between the years 0 and 10, whereas cigarette consumption decreased minimally. These changes were used to test the predictability of coronary events occurring between years 10 and 25 of follow-up when added to the model containing the factors at entry. Of these changes only systolic blood pressure significantly increased the predictability of coronary deaths. It is concluded that even minor alterations in systolic blood pressure above or below the entry levels can be associated with marked modifications in coronary mortality above or below those occurring naturally in the 15 years after the changes occurred. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: To examine the association between established coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors and eating patterns by creating a dietary index utilizing a limited amount of food frequency questionnaire data on specified indicator foods.Methods: Selected data from the Italian Risk Factors and Life Expectancy (RIFLE) project collected between 1978-1979 and 1983-1984 on 7665 men and women, aged 20-59 years, were used to compute a dietary index summarizing the relative proportion of fatty to non-fatty foods. The association between this index and systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP), body mass index, total serum cholesterol (TC), and blood glucose, controlling for potential confounders was then tested using multiple linear regression.Results: Among men, a positive association was found between the index and all five CHD risk factors (P < 0.01). Among women, the associations were weaker, becoming statistically significant only for TC and glucose.Conclusions: Our food index was able to detect relationships between diet and traditional CHD risk factors. A tool such as this, which requires only a limited number of key indicator food items, might enhance the use of existing food frequency questionnaires and also streamline the process of collecting new dietary information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]