Low Incidence of Stroke in the Chiquitanos Tribe in the Bolivian Lowlands

Heckmann, Josef G.; Kolominsky-Rabas, Peter; Heuschmann, PU; Erbguth, Frank; Neundörfer, B.; Galeote, J.

doi:10.1161/01.str.31.9.2266-d

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 6 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Consistent with what we report for verbal autopsies, an earlier study examining retrospective causes of death among Tsimane similarly reported minimal evidence of strokes or infarcts [ 49 ]. A study of stroke incidence among another Bolivian Amazonian population (Chiquitano) also reported very low incidence (174/100,000) over a one-year period [ 50 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Very Low Prevalence and Incidence of Atrial Fibrillation among Bolivian Forager-Farmers

Rowan

Eskander²,

Seabright

et al. 2021

Annals of Global Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia in post-industrialized populations. Older age, hypertension, obesity, chronic inflammation, and diabetes are significant atrial fibrillation risk factors, suggesting that modern urban environments may promote atrial fibrillation. Objective: Here we assess atrial fibrillation prevalence and incidence among tropical horticulturalists of the Bolivian Amazon with high levels of physical activity, a lean diet, and minimal coronary atherosclerosis, but also high infectious disease burden and associated inflammation. Methods: Between 2005–2019, 1314 Tsimane aged 40–94 years (52% female) and 534 Moseten Amerindians aged 40–89 years (50% female) underwent resting 12-lead electrocardiograms to assess atrial fibrillation prevalence. For atrial fibrillation incidence assessment, 1059 (81% of original sample) Tsimane and 310 Moseten (58%) underwent additional ECGs (mean time to follow up 7.0, 1.8 years, respectively). Findings: Only one (male) of 1314 Tsimane (0.076%) and one (male) of 534 Moseten (0.187%) demonstrated atrial fibrillation at baseline. There was one new (female) Tsimane case in 7395 risk years for the 1059 participants with >1 ECG (incidence rate = 0.14 per 1,000 risk years). No new cases were detected among Moseten, based on 542 risk years. Conclusion: Tsimane and Moseten show the lowest levels of atrial fibrillation ever reported, 1/20 to ~1/6 of rates in high-income countries. These findings provide additional evidence that a subsistence lifestyle with high levels of physical activity, and a diet low in processed carbohydrates and fat is cardioprotective, despite frequent infection-induced inflammation. Findings suggest that atrial fibrillation is a modifiable lifestyle disease rather than an inevitable feature of cardiovascular aging.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%