title: Relationship between adult height and body weight and risk of carotid atherosclerosis assessed in terms of carotid intima-media thickness: the Nagasaki Islands study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Previous studies have reported an inverse association between height and risk of cardiovascular disease. However, evidence is limited for the association between risk of atherosclerosis and height. Further, although the association between atherosclerosis and body mass index (BMI) is reportedly positive, there have been no reports of studies on associations between height and atherosclerosis in relation to BMI.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a cross-sectional study of Japanese men aged 30 to 89 years undergoing general health check-ups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 1,337 men, 312 were diagnosed with carotid atherosclerosis (carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) ≥ 1.1 mm), but no significant association was found between height and carotid atherosclerosis for the entire study group. Stratification by BMI status of those analytical findings disclosed a significant inverse association between height and carotid atherosclerosis among overweight (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m(2)) but not among non-overweight (BMI < 25 kg/m(2)) men. The classical cardiovascular risk factors-adjusted odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of carotid atherosclerosis for an increment of one SD (standard deviation) in height (6.70 cm) were 0.71 (0.54 to 0.94) for overweight (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m(2)) and 1.05 (0.87 to 1.27) for non-overweight (BMI < 25 kg/m(2)) men.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Independent from classical cardiovascular risk factors, height was found to be inversely associated with carotid atherosclerosis for overweight but not for non-overweight men.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Science, Nagasaki, Japan. simizicyuu@yahoo.co.jp.
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: Mio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakazato
authors.forename: Takaharu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sekita
authors.forename: Koichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kadota
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Arima
authors.forename: Hironori
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamasaki
authors.forename: Hisashi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shirahama
authors.forename: Noboru
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takamura
authors.forename: Kiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aoyagi
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maeda
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001827:Body Height / Q000502:physiology*; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D059168:Carotid Intima-Media Thickness; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012307:Risk Factors