title: Relation of obesity to acute myocardial infarction in Japanese patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It remains uncertain whether obesity is an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease in young adults, as well as adults, in Japan.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the present study, 1,260 cases of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and 3,775 community controls were recruited from the AMI-Kyoto Multi-Center Risk Study and Kyoto Citizen's Health and Nutrition Study, respectively. Obesity and other risk factors were retrospectively examined between cases and controls in each subgroup of young males (20-40 years), middle-aged males or females (40-60 years), older males or females (60-80 years), and very old males or females (80-100 years). In young, middle-aged, and older males, as well as in older females, cases had a higher body mass index (BMI) than controls. In young males, as well as in middle-aged and older females, cases had a higher prevalence of smoking than controls. Except for very old males, the prevalences of hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus were higher in each subgroup of cases than in controls. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that obesity (BMI >or=25) was an independent risk for AMI in young and middle-aged males, but not in females, whereas smoking was an independent risk for AMI in middle-aged and older females as well as in older males.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Obesity is significantly associated with AMI, independent of the classic coronary risk factors, in young and middle-aged males. These findings support the current emphasis on controlling obesity to prevent coronary events in young Japanese male adults.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Kyoto First Red Cross Hospital, Japan. sjun@msj.biglobe.ne.jp
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shiraishi
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kohno
authors.forename: Takahisa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sawada
authors.forename: Shinya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nishizawa
authors.forename: Masayasu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arihara
authors.forename: Mitsuyoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hadase
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hyogo
authors.forename: Takakazu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yagi
authors.forename: Takatomo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shima
authors.forename: Atsuko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nakazawa
authors.forename: Masako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shigeta
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tatsumi
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Azuma
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matsubara
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044466:Asian People; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology*; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications* / Q000208:ethnology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors