@article {6624, title = {Serum urate levels and the risk of hip fractures: data from the Cardiovascular Health Study.}, journal = {Metabolism}, volume = {64}, year = {2015}, month = {2015 Mar}, pages = {438-46}, abstract = {

PURPOSE: Uric acid inhibits vitamin D activation experimentally and higher serum urate levels are associated with higher parathyroid hormone levels in humans suggesting a link between uric acid and bone health. We hypothesized that hyperuricemia may increase the risk of fractures in older adults.

METHODS: 1963 men and 2729 women >=65 years of age who participated in the Cardiovascular Health Study and had baseline serum urate levels were included in the study. The primary outcome was incident hip fracture, assessed prospectively through June, 2008 by inpatient and outpatient records. The analysis was stratified by sex a priori.

RESULTS: There was a U-shaped relationship between serum urate levels and hip fractures in men. Men in the lowest and the highest urate quartiles (<4.88 and >=6.88 mg/dL respectively) had a significantly higher rate of fractures in unadjusted analysis. However, upon multivariate adjustment, only the HR for hip fracture in highest quartile versus the reference remained significant (HR 1.9; 95\% C.I. 1.1, 3.1; p value 0.02). High serum urate levels were not associated with hip fractures in women.

CONCLUSION: In this large prospective cohort of community-dwelling older adults, increased serum urate levels were associated with an increased risk of hip fractures in men. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings and to understand the mechanisms that underlie them.

}, keywords = {Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Body Mass Index, Cohort Studies, Estrogen Replacement Therapy, Female, Health Surveys, Hip Fractures, Humans, Kaplan-Meier Estimate, Male, Prospective Studies, Risk, Sex Factors, United States, Uric Acid}, issn = {1532-8600}, doi = {10.1016/j.metabol.2014.11.006}, author = {Mehta, Tapan and B{\r u}zkov{\'a}, Petra and Sarnak, Mark J and Chonchol, Michel and Cauley, Jane A and Wallace, Erin and Fink, Howard A and Robbins, John and Jalal, Diana} } @article {6561, title = {Variation in resting heart rate over 4 years and the risks of myocardial infarction and death among older adults.}, journal = {Heart}, volume = {101}, year = {2015}, month = {2015 Jan}, pages = {132-8}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVE: Resting heart rate (RHR) is an established predictor of myocardial infarction (MI) and mortality, but the relationship between variation in RHR over a period of several years and health outcomes is unclear. We evaluated the relationship between long-term variation in RHR and the risks of incident MI and mortality among older adults.

METHODS: 1991 subjects without cardiovascular disease from the Cardiovascular Health Study were included. RHR was taken from resting ECGs at the first five annual study visits. RHR mean, trend and variation were estimated with linear regression. Subjects were followed for incident MI and death until December 2010. HRs for RHR mean, trend and variation are reported for differences of 10 bpm, 2 bpm/year and 2 bpm, respectively.

RESULTS: 262 subjects had an incident MI event (13\%) and 1326 died (67\%) during 12 years of median follow-up. In primary analyses adjusted for cardiovascular risk factors, RHR mean (HR 1.12; 95\% CI 1.05 to 1.20) and variation (HR 1.08; 95\% CI 1.03 to 1.13) were associated with the risk of death while trend was not. None of the RHR variables were significantly associated with the risk of incident MI events; however, CIs were wide and the MI associations with RHR variables were not significantly different from the mortality associations. Adjusting for additional variables did not affect estimates, and there were no significant interactions with sex.

CONCLUSIONS: Variation in RHR over a period of several years represents a potential predictor of long-term mortality among older persons free of cardiovascular disease.

}, keywords = {Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Cause of Death, Electrocardiography, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Heart Rate, Humans, Incidence, Linear Models, Male, Myocardial Infarction, Outcome Assessment (Health Care), Prognosis, Proportional Hazards Models, Prospective Studies, Rest, Risk Factors, Time, Washington}, issn = {1468-201X}, doi = {10.1136/heartjnl-2014-306046}, author = {Floyd, James S and Sitlani, Colleen M and Wiggins, Kerri L and Wallace, Erin and Suchy-Dicey, Astrid and Abbasi, Siddique A and Carnethon, Mercedes R and Siscovick, David S and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Heckbert, Susan R and McKnight, Barbara and Rice, Kenneth M and Psaty, Bruce M} }