Several different pro-inflammatory cytokines are each associated with CHD risk independent of conventional risk factors and in an approximately log-linear manner. The findings lend support to the inflammation hypothesis in vascular disease, but further studies are needed to assess causality.

To assess the seasonality of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) in a large set of population-based studies

ObjectiveTo investigate the influence of age and gender on the prevalence and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in Europeans presenting with the Metabolic Syndrome (MetS).MethodsUsing 36 cohorts from the MORGAM-Project with baseline between 1982–1997, 69094 men and women aged 19–78 years, without known CVD, were included. During 12.2 years of follow-up, 3.7%/2.1% of men/women died due to CVD. The corresponding percentages for fatal and nonfatal coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke were 8.3/3.8 and 3.1/2.5.ResultsThe prevalence of MetS, according to modified definitions of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the revised National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATPIII), increased across age groups for both genders (P<0.0001); with a 5-fold increase in women from ages 19–39 years to 60–78 years (7.4%/7.6% to 35.4%/37.6% for IDF/NCEP-ATPIII) and a 2-fold increase in men (5.3%/10.5% to 11.5%/21.8%). Using multivariate-adjusted Cox regressions, the associations between MetS and all three CVD events were significant (P<0.0001). For IDF/NCEP-ATPIII in men and women, hazard ratio (HR) for CHD was 1.60/1.62 and 1.93/2.03, for CVD mortality 1.73/1.65 and 1.77/2.06, and for stroke 1.51/1.53 and 1.58/1.77. Whereas in men the HRs for CVD events were independent of age (MetS*age, P>0.05), in women the HRs for CHD declined with age (HRs 3.23/3.98 to 1.55/1.56; MetS*age, P = 0.01/P = 0.001 for IDF/NCEP-ATPIII) while the HRs for stroke tended to increase (HRs 1.31/1.25 to 1.55/1.83; MetS*age, P>0.05).ConclusionIn Europeans, both age and gender influenced the prevalence of MetS and its prognostic significance. The present results emphasise the importance of being critical of MetS in its current form as a marker of CVD especially in women, and advocate for a redefinition of MetS taking into account age especially in women.

H ypertension affects ≈30% of the world's population. 1 Despite being a modifiable cardiovascular risk factor, blood pressure (BP) control is still poor, and uncertainties remain over which BP measure, systolic BP (SBP) or diastolic BP (DBP), is the most important risk factor for a cardiovascular event in different ages. Recent discussions have focused increased attention on SBP, especially in the elderly. 2,3 It is well documented in the literature that BP profiles change with age.4 DBP rises until age 50 years and then declines, whereas SBP rises from adolescence until old age, suggesting a different relative importance of DBP and SBP with aging. The Framingham Heart Study 5 was the first to show that there was a declining relative importance of DBP and a corresponding increase in the importance of SBP in coronary heart disease risk with advancing age. Since then, many studies [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] have shown the superiority of either SBP or pulse pressure (PP) in the elderly. In younger ages, the pattern was less clear. Only some studies showed the superiority of DBP, 5,7,12 whereas others showed the superiority of SBP 6,14 or both BPs. [8][9][10][11]13 See Editorial Commentary, pp 1110-1111Abstract-This study investigates age-related shifts in the relative importance of systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressures as predictors of stroke and whether these relations are influenced by other cardiovascular risk factors. Using 34 European cohorts from the MOnica, Risk, Genetics, Archiving, and Monograph (MORGAM) Project with baseline between 1982 and 1997, 68 551 subjects aged 19 to 78 years, without cardiovascular disease and not receiving antihypertensive treatment, were included. During a mean of 13.2 years of follow-up, stroke incidence was 2.8%. Stroke risk was analyzed using hazard ratios per 10-mm Hg/5-mm Hg increase in SBP/DBP by multivariate-adjusted Cox regressions, including SBP and DBP simultaneously. Because of nonlinearity, DBP was analyzed separately for DBP ≥71 mm Hg and DBP <71 mm Hg. Stroke risk was associated positively with SBP and DBP ≥71 mm Hg (SBP/DBP ≥71 mm Hg; hazard ratios: 1.15/1.06 [95% CI: 1.12-1.18/1.03-1.09]) and negatively with DBP <71 mm ). The hazard ratio for DBP decreased with age (P<0.001) and was not influenced by other cardiovascular risk factors. Taking into account the age×DBP interaction, both SBP and DBP ≥71 mm Hg were significantly associated with stroke risk until age 62 years, but in subjects older than 46 years the superiority of SBP for stroke risk exceeded that of DBP ≥71 mm Hg and remained significant until age 78 years. DBP <71 mm Hg became significant at age 50 years with an inverse relation to stroke risk. In Europeans, stroke risk should be assessed by both SBP and DBP until age 62 years with increased focus on SBP from age 47 years. All previous studies [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] analyzed the associations between BP and cardiovascular disease risk using subgroups of age rather than using age as a continuous variable. The latte...