title: Area epidemiological research on hypertension risk factors of Keriyans in the Taklimakan Desert.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The Keriyans live in the hot, arid areas of Taklimakan Desert and maintain a primitive way of life. They have a low incidence of hypertension. However, little is known about the adaptive compensation in the organism. In the present study, we explored the the traditional risk factors of hypertension in the Keriyans.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed an epidemiological survey of Keriyans in a randomly selected natural population including 508 individuals aged 16 years or more, using the WHO MONICA scheme and 151 randomly selected age/gender-matched controls, Uighurs, from the nearest villagers to the Keriyans.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The incidence of hypertension in the Keriyans was significantly lower than that in the controls(p<0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that age, hyperglycemia and salt consumption as well as sodium intake in diet were associated with traditional hypertension risk factors. Correlation between water quality and hypertension showed that calcium was positively associated with the detection rate of hypertension.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Age, hyperglycemia and salt consumption as well as sodium intake in diet were correlated with hypertension risk factors, which leads to the speculation that the water of the desert draught area which is characterized by low calcium and high magnesium levels might account for the low incidence of hypertension in Keriyans.
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Department, The No. 2 People's Hospital of Changzhou, China caohaitao718@sina.com.
authors.forename: Haitao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Department, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, China.
authors.forename: Zuheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: National Laboratory of Medical Molecular Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, China.
authors.forename: Fenghui
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Department, The No. 2 People's Hospital of Changzhou, China.
authors.forename: Zhijian
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ding
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003889:Desert Climate; D004032:Diet; D016021:Epidemiologic Studies; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Keriyans; diet; epidemiology; hypertension; water quality