This prospective study compared pre- to post-retirement changes in physical health among male retirees with changes among age peers who continued to work. The 229 retirees and 409 workers aged 55-73 at follow-up were all participants in the Veterans Administration Normative Aging Study. Physical health at baseline and follow-up (three to four years apart) was rated on a four-point scale according to the findings of medical examinations. Although physical health declined generally over time, regression analyses showed no significant difference between eventual retirees and continuing workers on health change, after controlling for age and excluding men who retired due to illness or disability. Among retirees alone, pre- to post-retirement health change was also not significantly associated with several circumstances which purportedly make the retirement transition more stressful, such as mandatory retirement or retirement to a reduced standard of living. The results of this study of physical health, which corroborate those of other studies based on self-reported health measures and mortality data, support the conclusion that the event of retirement does not influence the risk of health deterioration.
SUMMARY Some studies suggest that fire fighters are at a higher risk of developing coronary heart disease than are males in the general population. We followed 1646 men for 10 years to determine the incidence of coronary heart disease. Subjects were participants of the Normative Aging Study, a longitudinal study of aging. Comparison of fire fighters (n = 171) and non-fire fighters (n = 1475) showed no significant difference in the incidence rates of coronary heart disease. Comparison of the groups regarding baseline risk factors revealed no material difference. These data suggest that fire fighters do not have an excess risk of coronary heart disease.MANY FACTORS might influence risk of developing coronary heart disease. Cigarette smoking,' high blood pressure,2' elevated serum cholesterol4' 5 and low levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol6 7 are important contributors to coronary disease risk.Other factors, such as occupation, have not been examined as extensively.Barnard and Weber8 stated that fire fighters are at a higher risk of coronary heart disease than are males in the general population. This conclusion is based in part'on U.S. census data9' 10 and on results of electrocardiographic stress testing." It has been suggested fire fighters' excess risk is due to high occupational exposure to smoke'2 or to carbon monoxide. 8 We studied the findings in 1646 participants of the Normative Aging Study, followed for 10 years to de' termine the incidence of coronary heart disease, to test the hypothesis that fire fighters have'a greater incidence of coronary heart disease than non-fire fighters. determined by a trained interviewer. Smokers were defined as men who smoked one or more cigarettes a day; all others were considered nonsmokers. Weight and height were measured with the subjects wearing only stockings and undershorts. Body mass index (weight/height2) was then calculated. MethodsSimilar examinations were repeated every 5 years on the average. The data were supplemented by information on cardiovascular illness obtained from hospital records. The data presented here were obtained from the first three examinations.The diagnostic categories of coronary heart disease under consideration include myocardial infarction, angina pectoris' and death from coronary heart disease. The criteria for myocardial infarction and angina pectoris were those used in the Framingham Heart Study.15 The records of all possible cases of myocardial infarction were reviewed by a cardiologist. Myocardial infarction was diagnosed only when documented by unequivocal electrocardiographic changes (i.e., pathologic Q waves), by a diagnostic elevation of serum enzymes (SGOT and lactic dehydrogenase) accompanying chest discomfort consistent with myocardial infarction, or by autopsy. Angina pectoris was diagnosed when the subject reported recurrent chest discomfort that lasted up to 15 minutes, was distinctly related to exertion or excitement and was relieved by rest or nitroglycerin. The diagnosis was rejected when another explanation wa...
Objective. To determine whether the development of osteoarthritis (OA) in men over a 33-year period is related to lower sulfate levels in stored serum collected during that time interval.Methods. Stored serum samples from participants in the Veterans Administration Normative Aging Study were assayed for sulfate by ion-exchange chromatography. Samples had been obtained every 3-5 years during part or all of a 33-year portion of the study. Sulfate levels were determined in serum from all participants who underwent knee replacement surgery and had evidence of radiographic hand OA, from some of the participants who had evidence of radiographic hand OA but had not undergone knee replacement surgery, from all participants who underwent knee replacement surgery but had no evidence of radiographic hand OA, and from age-matched participants who had no evidence of OA by history, physical examination, or hand radiography.Results. Serum sulfate levels in participants, with or without radiographic hand OA and/or knee replacements, who were ages 34-72 years at the first examination, ranged from 0.21 mM to 0.51 mM over the course of a maximum of 33 years. Both the overall mean and median sulfate levels rose from 0.32 mM at age 40-50 years to 0.38 mM at age 70-80 years, and the overall mean and median for all ages was 0.36 mM. There were no significant differences in sulfate levels between subjects in any of the 4 groups.Conclusion. There was no evidence of a relationship between these serum sulfate levels and the development of OA. However, all samples were collected after overnight fasting, and no participant was younger than age 34 years at the initiation of the study. It remains to be determined whether differences in the time of ingestion of daily dietary protein providing sulfate are related to the development of OA, or whether sulfate levels measured at an earlier age could be a factor.Proteochondroitin sulfate, primarily aggrecan, plays a major role in the mechanical support of cartilage. In addition to assisting in the positioning and orientation of collagen, it determines salt and water distribution and controls a volume domain of water many times the volume of the proteoglycan itself. This provides a major degree of cushioning, so that water is expressed from the domain under pressure and then can return when the pressure is released. These functions are dependant on the high charge of the sulfate substituents; therefore, any decrease in sulfation might be expected to affect the structure and stability of the cartilage. In addition, undersulfation might increase susceptibility to animal chondroitin-degrading enzymes, because these enzymes degrade much more readily whenever sulfate is absent from the adjacent sugars of chondroitin (1,2). Consequently, undersulfation could produce a functional in-
A total of 598 males (aged 30-74 years) who had baseline (1961-1970) chest radiography and baseline blood pressure less than 140/90 mmHg were observed prospectively for 10 years. Subjects were participants of the Normative Aging Study, a longitudinal study on aging initiated in 1961 at the Veterans Administration Outpatient Clinic in Boston, Massachusetts. Blood pressures were taken at five- and 10-year follow-up examinations. Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that the long diameter of the heart (on posteroanterior film) and the cardiac depth (on lateral film) were statistically significant predictors of subsequent hypertension after controlling for baseline body mass index, systolic pressure, and diastolic pressure. A similar model considering various composite indices of heart size indicated that the heart volume was a statistically significant and independent predictor of hypertension. Thus, increases in heart size may precede and predict the development of sustained hypertension.
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