Dataset Information

Association of body flexibility and carotid atherosclerosis in Japanese middle-aged men: a cross-sectional study.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE:This study examined the associations of body flexibility with carotid arterial remodelling, including intima-media thickness (IMT) and plaque formation in middle-aged men. METHODS:The subjects of this cross-sectional study included 1354 Japanese men aged 35-59 years without histories of stroke or cardiac diseases. The arm extensibility test, which can estimate flexibility of the upper extremity (composed of shoulder external rotation and forearm supination), and the sit-and-reach test were performed. Common carotid IMT and plaque formation (?1.1?mm) were estimated by ultrasound. RESULTS:The proportion of subjects who fully completed the arm extensibility test was 55.0%, and who had plaques in the common carotid artery was 37.8%. IMT was associated with poor arm extensibility (?=-0.073, 95% CI -0.02224 to -0.00041, P=0.004), while plaque formation was associated with poor sit-and-reach (OR 0.98579, 95% CI 0.97257 to 0.99919, P=0.038) after adjustment by all covariates. CONCLUSIONS:This study demonstrated that poor upper extremity and trunk flexibility were associated with characteristics of early onset of atherosclerosis. Furthermore, these associations were independent of covariates such as age, blood pressure, blood lipids glucose levels and abdominal fat accumulation, handgrip strength and lifestyle, including sleeping, drinking, exercise and smoking habits. Poor flexibility may reflect subclinical atherosclerosis in middle-aged men.

SUBMITTER: Suwa M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5781189 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Association of body flexibility and carotid atherosclerosis in Japanese middle-aged men: a cross-sectional study.

Suwa Masataka M Imoto Takayuki T Kida Akira A Yokochi Takashi T Iwase Mitsunori M Kozawa Kenji K

BMJ open 20180105 1

<h4>Objective</h4>This study examined the associations of body flexibility with carotid arterial remodelling, including intima-media thickness (IMT) and plaque formation in middle-aged men.<h4>Methods</h4>The subjects of this cross-sectional study included 1354 Japanese men aged 35-59 years without histories of stroke or cardiac diseases. The arm extensibility test, which can estimate flexibility of the upper extremity (composed of shoulder external rotation and forearm supination), and the sit- ...[more]

PMID: 29306892

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundThe general population is ubiquitously exposed to the toxic metal cadmium through the diet and smoking. Cadmium exposure is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in myocardial infarction and stroke. Atherosclerosis is the main underlying mechanism of myocardial infarction. However, associations between cadmium and coronary artery atherosclerosis have not been examined.ObjectivesOur study sought to examine the hypothesis that blood cadmium (B-Cd) is positively associated with coronary artery calcification, as a measure of coronary artery atherosclerosis in the population-based Swedish SCAPIS study.MethodsOur analysis included 5,627 individuals (51% women), age 50-64 y, enrolled from 2013 to 2018. The coronary artery calcium score (CACS) was obtained from computed tomography. Blood cadmium was determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Associations between B-Cd and coronary artery calcium score (CACS Agatston score) were evaluated using prevalence ratios (PRs) in models adjusted for sex, age, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, low-density cholesterol/high-density cholesterol ratio, and family history.ResultsThe median B-Cd concentration was 0.24μg/L. The prevalence of positive coronary artery calcium (CACS>0) was 41% and the prevalence of CACS≥100 was 13%. Relative to the lowest quartile (Q) of B-Cd (<0.16μg/L), the highest quartile (median 0.63μg/L) was associated with a small but significant increase in CACS>0 (PR 1.1; 95% CI: 1.0, 1.3), and a greater relative increase in CACS≥100 (PR 1.6; 95% CI: 1.3, 2.0). When restricted to 2,446 never-smokers, corresponding PRs were 1.1 (95% CI 0.9, 1.3) for CACS>0 (63 cases in Q4) and 1.7 (95% CI 1.1, 2.7) for CACS≥100 (17 cases in Q4).DiscussionBlood cadmium in the highest quartile was associated with CACS in a general population sample with low to moderate cadmium exposure. This supports the hypothesis that atherosclerosis is an important mechanism underlying the associations between cadmium and incident cardiovascular disease. The findings suggest that public health measures to reduce cadmium exposure are warranted. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP8523.

Project description:BackgroundThe associations between body flexibility and sarcopenia were not well understood. This study aimed to explore the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of flexibility with sarcopenia.MethodsOur study selected participants aged 50-80 from the WELL-China cohort and the Lanxi cohort. Participants from the urban area of the Lanxi cohort were followed up 4 years later. Body flexibility was measured by the sit-and-reach test. Muscle mass was evaluated by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Muscle strength was evaluated using handgrip strength. Sarcopenia was defined as having both low muscle mass and low muscle strength. We used multivariable logistic regressions to assess the cross-sectional associations of body flexibility with low muscle mass, low muscle strength and sarcopenia. We also used multivariable logistic regressions to explore the associations of baseline flexibility and 4-year changes in flexibility with incident low muscle mass, low muscle strength and sarcopenia.ResultsA total of 9453 participants were enrolled in the cross-sectional study, and 1233 participants were included in the longitudinal analyses. In the cross-sectional analyses, compared with low body flexibility, high body flexibility was inversely associated with low muscle mass (odds ratio [OR], 0.58; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.50-0.68; P < 0.001), low muscle strength (OR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.55-0.69; P < 0.001) and sarcopenia (OR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.41-0.65; P < 0.001), and these associations did not differ in different age groups, sex or physical activity levels. In the longitudinal analyses, compared with participants with low body flexibility, participants with high body flexibility had lower risk of the incident low muscle strength (OR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.38-0.74; P < 0.001) and sarcopenia (OR, 0.36; 95% CI, 0.21-0.61; P < 0.001), but not incident low muscle mass (OR, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.33-1.06; P = 0.076). Every 1-cm increase in flexibility during 4 years was associated with reduced risk of incident low muscle mass (OR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.93-1.00; P = 0.025), low muscle strength (OR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.94-0.98; P = 0.002) and sarcopenia (OR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.93-0.99; P = 0.007).ConclusionsHigh flexibility was associated with reduced risk of incident low muscle strength and sarcopenia. Increases in flexibility were associated with reduced risk of incident low muscle mass, low muscle strength and sarcopenia. Flexibility exercises and monitoring the dynamic change of flexibility might be helpful in preventing sarcopenia among adults aged 50 years or over.

Dataset Information

Association of body flexibility and carotid atherosclerosis in Japanese middle-aged men: a cross-sectional study.

Publications

Association of body flexibility and carotid atherosclerosis in Japanese middle-aged men: a cross-sectional study.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets