title: Cardiovascular risk factors in relation to cigarette smoking: a population-based survey among Asians in Singapore.
abstract: To investigate how cigarette smoking increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, risk factors were compared between 166 cigarette smokers and 312 non-smokers, in a random sample of males (Chinese, Malays and Asian Indians) aged 30-69 years from the general population of Singapore. There was adjusted for age and ethnic group. The prevalence of hypertension was lower in cigarette smokers (15.2%) than non-smokers (21.9%), with the difference reduced by adjustment for body mass index (BMI). Smokers had: lower mean serum HDL-cholesterol (0.76 versus 0.81 mmol/l) and higher mean serum fasting triglyceride (1.92 versus 1.71 mmol/l), which will increase atherosclerosis; higher mean plasma fibrinogen (2.75 versus 2.67 g/l) and plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 [PAI-1] (24.9 versus 22.2 ng/ml), which will increase thrombosis; and lower mean plasma vitamin C (4.4 versus 6.4 mg/l) and serum selenium (118 versus 123 microg/l), which may increase atherosclerosis. Adjustment for BMI slightly increased the differences for HDL-cholesterol, fasting triglyceride, fibrinogen and PAI-1, indicating that less generalised obesity among smokers reduces their increased cardiovascular disease risk. Smoking was not found to be related to: diabetes mellitus; serum total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, apolipoproteins A1 and B and lipoprotein(a); plasma factor VIIc and prothrombin fragment 1 + 2; and plasma vitamins A and E and serum ferritin. There was no evidence of increased insulin resistance in smokers, as measured by mean fasting serum insulin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community, Occupational and Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore. cofkh@nus.edu.sg
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Choo
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kuperan
authors.forename: C N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Ong
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Aw
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology*; D005006:Ethnicity; D005340:Fibrinogen / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017395:Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1 / Q000097:blood; D015995:Prevalence; D011897:Random Allocation; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012846:Singapore / Q000453:epidemiology; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000097:blood / Q000208:ethnology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D007328:Insulin; D008055:Lipids; D017395:Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D005340:Fibrinogen