title: Carotid atherosclerosis and cardiovascular risk factors: a comparison of residents of a rural area of Okinawa with residents of a typical suburban area of Fukuoka, Japan.
abstract: Areas of Japan are known worldwide for the longevity of their residents. Okinawa has the highest longevity in Japan and a low rate of death due to cardiovascular disease. We investigated carotid atherosclerotic (CA) risk factors in islands of I city in Okinawa prefecture and compared them with K town, a suburban area of Fukuoka prefecture in Kyushu, to determine the relationship between cardiovascular risk factors and carotid atherosclerosis. We investigated conventional cardiovascular risk factors in 1078 I city residents (375 men, mean age 63.7 and 703 women, mean age 60.0) in 2000 and 2364 K town residents (676 men, mean age 57.1 and 1688 women, mean age 53.0) in 1999. Carotid atherosclerosis was assessed by mean intima-media thickness (IMT) by B-mode ultrasound. The mean IMT was significantly lower in the residents of I city than in those of K town (P < 0.05). Total cholesterol (TC) and low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels and smoking rate were also lower in I city than in K town. Body mass index (BMI) and triglyceride (TG) level were higher in I city than in K town. In I city, multiple regression analysis found independent relationships between carotid atherosclerosis and age, sex (male), hypertension, LDL cholesterol, high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and diabetes. The lower mean IMT is probably related to a lower lifetime burden of atherosclerotic risk factors, which may in turn be related to the longevity of Okinawa residents. BMI was not a cardiovascular risk factor, although LDL cholesterol was a common important risk factor.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Medicine, Kyushu University Hospital, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan.
authors.forename: Masafumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tatsukawa
authors.forename: Yasunori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sawayama
authors.forename: Naoyasu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Maeda
authors.forename: Kyoko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okada
authors.forename: Norihiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Furusyo
authors.forename: Seizaburo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kashiwagi
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hayashi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood; D048909:Diabetes Complications; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications; D002537:Intracranial Arteriosclerosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008136:Longevity; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood; D014463:Ultrasonography; D014505:Urban Population
chemical_list: D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D014280:Triglycerides; D002784:Cholesterol