@article {905, title = {The association of alcohol consumption and incident heart failure: the Cardiovascular Health Study.}, journal = {J Am Coll Cardiol}, volume = {48}, year = {2006}, month = {2006 Jul 18}, pages = {305-11}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVES: We investigated the association between alcohol consumption and incident congestive heart failure (CHF) both overall and after adjusting for incident myocardial infarction (MI).

BACKGROUND: Moderate alcohol consumption has been associated with lower risk of CHF and MI.

METHODS: The Cardiovascular Health study, a prospective cohort study of cardiovascular disease risk factors and outcomes, followed 5,888 subjects > or =65 years old for 7 to 10 years. Cox models were used to estimate the adjusted risk of CHF by reported alcohol consumption.

RESULTS: There were 5,595 subjects at baseline at risk for incident CHF with alcohol data and 1,056 events during follow-up. Compared with abstainers, the adjusted risk of CHF was lower among subjects who reported consuming 1 to 6 drinks per week (hazard ratio [HR] 0.82, 95\% confidence interval [CI] 0.67 to 1.00, p = 0.05) and 7 to 13 drinks per week (HR 0.66, 95\% CI 0.47 to 0.91, p = 0.01). Time-dependent adjustment for incident MI altered only slightly the association between moderate alcohol consumption and CHF (for 1 to 6 drinks per week, HR 0.84, 95\% CI 0.65 to 1.04; for 7 to 13 drinks per week, HR 0.69, 95\% CI 0.49 to 0.99). Baseline former drinkers had a higher risk of CHF than abstainers (HR 1.51, p < 0.01), but those who quit during the study did not have a higher risk (HR 0.83, 95\% CI 0.66 to 1.03).

CONCLUSIONS: Moderate alcohol use is associated with a lower risk of incident CHF among older adults, even after accounting for incident MI and other factors.

}, keywords = {Aged, Alcohol Drinking, Chi-Square Distribution, Comorbidity, Female, Heart Failure, Humans, Life Style, Male, Multicenter Studies as Topic, Myocardial Infarction, Proportional Hazards Models, Risk Factors, Smoking}, issn = {1558-3597}, doi = {10.1016/j.jacc.2006.02.066}, author = {Bryson, Chris L and Mukamal, Kenneth J and Mittleman, Murray A and Fried, Linda P and Hirsch, Calvin H and Kitzman, Dalane W and Siscovick, David S} } @article {946, title = {Ventricular structure and function in hypertensive participants with heart failure and a normal ejection fraction: the Cardiovascular Health Study.}, journal = {J Am Coll Cardiol}, volume = {49}, year = {2007}, month = {2007 Mar 06}, pages = {972-81}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate left ventricular (LV) size and structure in elderly subjects with hypertension (HTN) and heart failure who have a normal ejection fraction (HFNEF) in a large population-based sample.

BACKGROUND: The pathophysiology of HFNEF is incompletely understood but is generally attributed to LV diastolic dysfunction with normal or reduced LV diastolic chamber size despite greater than normal filling pressures.

METHODS: In the Cardiovascular Health Study (n = 5,888), demographic and clinical characteristics and ventricular structure and function were compared in healthy normal subjects (healthy; n = 499), subjects with HTN but not heart failure (HTN; n = 2,184), and subjects with HTN and HFNEF (HFNEF; n = 167).

RESULTS: Subjects with HFNEF were older, more obese, and more often African American than healthy and HTN subjects and had a higher prevalence of diabetes, coronary heart disease, and anemia than HTN subjects. Serum creatinine and cystatin-C were increased in HFNEF subjects. Average LV diastolic dimension was significantly increased in HFNEF subjects (5.2 +/- 0.8 cm) compared with healthy (4.8 +/- 0.6 cm) and HTN (4.9 +/- 0.6 cm) subjects. As a result, average calculated stroke volume (89 +/- 25 ml vs. 78 +/- 20 ml and 80 +/- 20 ml) and cardiac output (6.0 +/- 2.0 l/min vs. 4.8 +/- 1.3 l/min and 5.1 +/- 1.4 l/min) were increased in HFNEF compared with healthy and HTN subjects, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: As a group, HFNEF subjects have increased LV diastolic diameter and increased calculated stroke volume. They also have increased prevalence of multiple comorbidities, including anemia, renal dysfunction, and obesity, that can cause volume overload. These data suggest that extracardiac factors, via volume overload, may contribute to the pathophysiology of HFNEF in the elderly.

}, keywords = {Age Distribution, Aged, Body Size, Case-Control Studies, Cohort Studies, Comorbidity, Continental Population Groups, Echocardiography, Female, Heart Failure, Heart Ventricles, Humans, Hypertension, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Multivariate Analysis, Prevalence, Regression Analysis, Risk Factors, Sex Distribution, Stroke Volume, United States}, issn = {1558-3597}, doi = {10.1016/j.jacc.2006.10.061}, author = {Maurer, Mathew S and Burkhoff, Daniel and Fried, Linda P and Gottdiener, John and King, Donald L and Kitzman, Dalane W} } @article {1053, title = {Subclinical thyroid dysfunction, cardiac function, and the risk of heart failure. The Cardiovascular Health study.}, journal = {J Am Coll Cardiol}, volume = {52}, year = {2008}, month = {2008 Sep 30}, pages = {1152-9}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVES: The goal of this study was to determine whether subclinical thyroid dysfunction was associated with incident heart failure (HF) and echocardiogram abnormalities.

BACKGROUND: Subclinical hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism have been associated with cardiac dysfunction. However, long-term data on the risk of HF are limited.

METHODS: We studied 3,044 adults>or=65 years of age who initially were free of HF in the Cardiovascular Health Study. We compared adjudicated HF events over a mean 12-year follow-up and changes in cardiac function over the course of 5 years among euthyroid participants, those with subclinical hypothyroidism (subdivided by thyroid-stimulating hormone [TSH] levels: 4.5 to 9.9, >or=10.0 mU/l), and those with subclinical hyperthyroidism.

RESULTS: Over the course of 12 years, 736 participants developed HF events. Participants with TSH>or=10.0 mU/l had a greater incidence of HF compared with euthyroid participants (41.7 vs. 22.9 per 1,000 person years, p=0.01; adjusted hazard ratio: 1.88; 95\% confidence interval: 1.05 to 3.34). Baseline peak E velocity, which is an echocardiographic measurement of diastolic function associated with incident HF in the CHS cohort, was greater in those patients with TSH>or=10.0 mU/l compared with euthyroid participants (0.80 m/s vs. 0.72 m/s, p=0.002). Over the course of 5 years, left ventricular mass increased among those with TSH>or=10.0 mU/l, but other echocardiographic measurements were unchanged. Those patients with TSH 4.5 to 9.9 mU/l or with subclinical hyperthyroidism had no increase in risk of HF.

CONCLUSIONS: Compared with euthyroid older adults, those adults with TSH>or=10.0 mU/l have a moderately increased risk of HF and alterations in cardiac function but not older adults with TSH<10.0 mU/l. Clinical trials should assess whether the risk of HF might be ameliorated by thyroxine replacement in individuals with TSH>or=10.0 mU/l.

}, keywords = {Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Cohort Studies, Echocardiography, Female, Heart, Heart Failure, Heart Function Tests, Humans, Hyperthyroidism, Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular, Hypothyroidism, Male, Risk Factors, Time Factors}, issn = {1558-3597}, doi = {10.1016/j.jacc.2008.07.009}, author = {Rodondi, Nicolas and Bauer, Douglas C and Cappola, Anne R and Cornuz, Jacques and Robbins, John and Fried, Linda P and Ladenson, Paul W and Vittinghoff, Eric and Gottdiener, John S and Newman, Anne B} }