BACKGROUND Several previous epidemiologic studies have shown that high blood levels of carotenoids may be protective against early atherosclerosis, but results have been inconsistent. We assessed the association between atherosclerotic progression, measured by intima-media thickness of the common carotid artery wall, and serum levels of carotenoids. METHODS We studied the effect of carotenoid...

Exaggerated cardiovascular reactivity to behavioral challenges among otherwise healthy individuals has been associated with carotid atherosclerosis. We evaluated whether a similar relationship exists among hypertensives, who are at a heightened atherosclerotic risk. Untreated, hypertensive men (n=251; age range, 40 to 70 years; 197 white, 54 black) completed a standardized battery of behavioral...

The aim of this study is to evaluate the carotid artery intima media thickness and serum lipids in pediatric patients with epilepsy treated with valproic acid. The study included 44 pediatric epileptic and 40 healthy children. Intima media thickness of left common carotid artery and fasting lipid profile (total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipopr...

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to evaluate whether poor oral hygiene is associated with carotid and popliteal arterial intima-media thickness, which is one of the predictors of future progression of sub-clinical atherosclerosis, and highsensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and fibrinogen levels. METHODS A specialised dentist checked the patients and selected 550 patients during periodont...

Objective: A magnesium deficiency is known to be involved in many abnormalities in the post-menopausal women. Previous studies proposed that magnesium (Mg) might prevent atherosclerosis. In this study the efficacy of serum magnesium level and its relation with carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) in post-menopausal women was evaluated. Methods: Eighty Iranian Postmenopausal women were included...

OBJECTIVE Consensus guidelines recommend cardiovascular risk assessment as the initial step of primary prevention. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incremental predictive value for coronary events conferred by carotid ultrasonography in addition to risk assessment by Framingham score and screening for silent myocardial ischemia in a cohort of type 2 diabetic patients. RESEARCH DESIGN...

BACKGROUND Understanding the heritable contribution of vascular measures, from parent to offspring, may aid in risk stratification and atherosclerosis prevention efforts. We hypothesized that measures of vascular structure and function would be heritable in this cohort of parents and their adolescent offspring. METHODS AND RESULTS High-resolution ultrasound scans of the brachial and carotid a...

BACKGROUND The mechanisms by which smoking cessation reduces cardiovascular disease risk are unclear. We evaluated longitudinal changes in carotid intima-media thickness among current smokers enrolled in a prospective, randomized smoking cessation clinical trial. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Subjects were enrolled in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 5 smoking cessatio...

BACKGROUND Arterial compliance and endothelium-dependent vasodilation are two characteristics of the vessel wall. In the Prospective Investigation of the Vasculature in Uppsala Seniors (PIVUS) study, we studied the relationships between arterial compliance and endothelium-dependent vasodilation versus atherosclerosis as measured with two imaging modalities. METHODS In the population-based PIV...

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Aim of this work was to evaluate the association between psoriasis and chosen cardiovascular risk factors, echocardiographic parameters, and carotid intima-media thickness. A total of 50 patients with psoriasis and 50 controls were enrolled in the study. Psoriasis area severity index was calculated ...