Friday, March 07, 2025

 

Heart & stroke risks vary among Asian American, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander adults



American Heart Association Epidemiology and Prevention | Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health Scientific Sessions 2025 – Moderated Poster Presentation MP32




American Heart Association

Facebook
XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail





Research Highlights:

  • The prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors varies greatly among Asian American, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander (AANHPI) populations, according to an analysis of electronic health records for more than 700,000 adults in California and Hawaii.
  • The 10-year predicted risk of a major cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack, stroke or heart failure, also varied among the different groups.
  • These results highlight differential risks and raise awareness for the importance of identifying and managing cardiovascular disease risk factors in high-risk populations, the researchers noted.
  • Note: The study featured in this news release is a research abstract. Abstracts presented at the American Heart Association’s scientific meetings are not peer-reviewed, and the findings are considered preliminary until published as full manuscripts in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

Embargoed until 3 p.m. CT/4 p.m. ET, Thursday March 6, 2025

NEW ORLEANS, March 6, 2025 — Asian American, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander (AANHPI) populations experienced differences in both cardiovascular disease predicted risk and risk factors, according to preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology and Prevention | Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health Scientific Sessions 2025. The meeting will be held in New Orleans, March 6-9, 2025, and features the latest science on population-based health and wellness and implications for lifestyle.

Previous research has noted important differences in the prevalence of heart disease and stroke risk factors among AANHPI subgroups, including an elevated death rate from cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander adults compared to non-Hispanic white adults in the U.S. Additionally, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander adults were 10% more likely to be diagnosed with coronary heart disease than non-Hispanic white adults in 2014.

“Historically, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander populations have frequently been grouped together as a single, homogenous racial and ethnic group in clinical and epidemiologic research, which masks important variations in both risk factor prevalence and disease burden,” said lead study author Rishi V. Parikh, M.P.H., a senior research analyst at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research in Pleasanton. “Despite being the fastest growing population in the U.S., existing studies about Asian subgroups remain limited by inadequate sample size and exclusion of some major disaggregated subgroups, as well as a lack of long-term follow up.”

In the PANACHE (Pacific Islander, Native Hawaiian and Asian American Cardiovascular Health Epidemiology) study, researchers analyzed health records from 2012 through 2022 for approximately 700,000 adults enrolled in large private health systems in California and Hawaii. Participants in the study included adults who self-identified as Chinese, Filipino, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese,  other Southeast Asian (including Thai, Laotian, Cambodian, Hmong, Burmese, Indonesian, Malaysian or Singaporean) or South Asian (including Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi, Nepali or Bhutanese).

Researchers compared the prevalence of traditional cardiovascular disease risk factors among adults belonging to only one of the AANHPI subgroups who had not been previously diagnosed with cardiovascular disease. For direct comparison, the researchers also analyzed the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors for 2 million non-Hispanic white adults in the same health system databases.

The analysis found:

  • High blood pressure prevalence ranged from 12% in Chinese adults to 30% in Filipino adults.
  • High cholesterol prevalence ranged from 20% in Chinese adults to 33% in Filipino adults.
  • Obesity ranged from 11% in Vietnamese adults to 41% in Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander adults. In this study, researchers classified obesity as a BMI greater than or equal to 30 kg/m2 for non-Hispanic white and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander adults, and greater than or equal to 27.5 kg/m2 for all other adults in an Asian subgroup, in accordance with the World Health Organization’s criteria.
  • Type 2 diabetes prevalence ranged from 5% in Chinese adults to 14% in Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander adults.
  • Smoking ranged from more than 13% in Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander adults to less than 10% in all other AANHPI subgroups.
  • All AANHPI subgroups had higher prevalences of Type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol in comparison to non-Hispanic white adults.
  • Using the American Heart Association’s PREVENTTM risk calculator, the researchers found that the 10-year predicted risk for a cardiovascular event was highest in Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander adults, and Filipino, South Asian and other Southeast Asian populations also had higher 10-year cardiovascular disease risk than non-Hispanic white adults.

“At the individual patient level, our findings along with previous work suggest that regular monitoring of risk factors like blood pressure and cholesterol may be helpful for early detection of increased risk and prevention of cardiovascular disease among Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations,” said study co-author Alan S. Go, M.D., an associate director of the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research (Cardiovascular and Metabolic Conditions Research).

“A next step for the PANACHE study will be a population-based survey to describe risk factors not routinely available in the electronic health record (such as immigration history, generational status, employment history, other social determinants of health, experiences of discrimination, acculturation, diet, physical activity, and access to health care services and other resources) that may be unique to each subgroup and how they may influence the risk of cardiovascular disease. These additional data will help us understand sources of health disparities and inform tailored cardiovascular prevention strategies for AANHPI individuals, both in the clinic and in the community.”

Study details, background and design: 

  • The researchers analyzed cardiovascular disease risk factors in 2,653,007 adults residing in California or Hawaii (677,563 AANHPI adults and 1,975,44 non-Hispanic white adults). Participants were ages 30 years or older (average age of 49); 53% of participants identified as female, and 47% identified as male.
  • People previously diagnosed with heart attack, stroke, heart failure or atrial fibrillation or those who identified with more than one racial/ethnic group were excluded from the analysis.
  • Data were collected from hospital/health system electronic health records from 2012 through 2022.
  • The 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease events was calculated using the American Heart Association’s PREVENT risk calculator equations. The researchers standardized the risk of cardiovascular disease events to the overall age and sex distribution of the total participant pool to account for the variability within the sub-groups.
  • PREVENT estimates risk of cardiovascular disease using sex-specific equations; incorporating markers of kidney disease in addition to HbA1c measures to help assess metabolic health; estimates 10-year and 30-year risk for heart attack or stroke as well as heart failure; and considers additional risk factors associated with the Social Deprivation Index. The Social Deprivation Index is a composite measure based on seven demographic characteristics collected in the American Community Survey, including poverty rate, education level, employment, access to transportation, household characteristics (single-parent households), percentage of households that rent rather than own housing and percentage of households that are overcrowded.

The study had several limitations, including that it may not be fully representative of adults without health insurance, who live in other areas of the U.S., or those who live outside the U.S. In addition, health measurements were collected through routine clinical care via electronic health records, which may not include adults who do not use health care services or those who face barriers to accessing health care. Future studies will involve examining underlying factors that may contribute to the diverse risks among various AANHPI subgroups, the researchers said.

“While cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death for all Americans, understanding differences among specific population groups can identify gaps in monitoring and management of risk factors, such as obesity, hypertension and Type 2 diabetes,” said Sadiya S. Khan, M.D., M.Sc., FAHA, chair of the writing group for the Association’s 2023 scientific statement for the PREVENT risk calculator tool. Khan is the Magerstadt Professor of Cardiovascular Epidemiology and an associate professor of medicine and preventive medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a preventive cardiologist at Northwestern Medicine, both in Chicago, and was not involved in the study.

“These findings further underscore that Asian Americans represent a diverse and heterogeneous group, and research should prioritize inclusion and appropriate identification of Asian Americans and various subgroups to improve cardiovascular health for all.” 

Moderated Poster Presentation MP32 in Session MP06 Cardiometabolic Health and Disorders is Friday, March 7, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. CT.

Co-authors, their disclosures and funding sources are listed in the abstract.

See Also: Additional abstract presentations (presentations P1018, P1085, P2085) at the Epidemiology and Prevention | Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health Scientific Sessions from the PANACHE study will report on newly diagnosed cardiovascular disease cases during the 11-year 2012-2023 study period.

Statements and conclusions of studies that are presented at the American Heart Association’s scientific meetings are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the Association’s policy or position. The Association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability. Abstracts presented at the Association’s scientific meetings are not peer-reviewed, rather, they are curated by independent review panels and are considered based on the potential to add to the diversity of scientific issues and views discussed at the meeting. The findings are considered preliminary until published as a full manuscript in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

The Association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific Association programs and events. The Association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and biotech companies, device manufacturers and health insurance providers and the Association’s overall financial information are here.

Additional Resources:

###

The American Heart Association’s EPI | Lifestyle Scientific Sessions 2025 is the world’s premier meeting dedicated to the latest advances in population-based science. The meeting is Thursday through Sunday, March 6-9, 2025, at the Hyatt Regency in New Orleans. The primary goal of the meeting is to promote the development and application of translational and population science to prevent heart disease and stroke and foster cardiovascular health. The sessions focus on risk factors, obesity, nutrition, physical activity, genetics, metabolism, biomarkers, subclinical disease, clinical disease, healthy populations, global health, and prevention-oriented clinical trials. The Councils on Epidemiology and Prevention and Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health (Lifestyle) jointly planned the EPI | Lifestyle Scientific Sessions2025. Follow the conference on X at #EPILifestyle25.

About the American Heart Association

The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. Dedicated to ensuring equitable health in all communities, the organization has been a leading source of health information for more than one hundred years. Supported by more than 35 million volunteers globally, we fund groundbreaking research, advocate for the public’s health, and provide critical resources to save and improve lives affected by cardiovascular disease and stroke. By driving breakthroughs and implementing proven solutions in science, policy, and care, we work tirelessly to advance health and transform lives every day. Connect with us on heart.org, Facebook, X or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1.

Posted by at No comments:

 

Large study of dietary habits suggests more plant oils, less butter could lead to better health



The study, which followed the dietary choices of more than 200,000 people over 30 years, found that diets higher in butter but low in plant oils were associated with elevated risk of mortality




Mass General Brigham

Facebook
XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail




People who consume plant-based oil instead of butter may experience beneficial health effects and even have a lower risk of premature death, according to a new study by investigators from Mass General Brigham, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. The researchers examined diet and health data from 200,000 people followed for more than 30 years and found that higher intake of plant-based oils, especially soybean, canola, and olive oil, was associated with lower total, cancer, and cardiovascular disease mortality, whereas butter intake was associated with increased risk of total and cancer mortality. The results are published in JAMA Internal Medicine and presented simultaneously at the American Heart Association EPI/Lifestyle Scientific Sessions.

"What's surprising is the magnitude of the association that we found — we saw a 17% lower risk of death when we modeled swapping butter with plant-based oils in daily diet. That is a pretty huge effect on health," said study lead author Yu Zhang, MBBS, research assistant at the Channing Division of Network Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system. Zhang is also a student in the Department of Epidemiology at Harvard Chan School.

A key difference between butter and oil is the types of fatty acids contained in them. Butter is rich in saturated fatty acids, while plant-based oils have more unsaturated fatty acids. While there have been many studies on dietary fatty acids, fewer studies have focused on their primary food sources, including butter and oils. Many previous studies have looked at a person's diet at a point in time and have been done in a small population, limiting their applicability to public health.

The new study analyzed dietary data from 221,054 participants in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS), Nurses' Health Study II (NHSII), and  Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS). Every four years, they answered questions about how often they consumed certain types of food. The researchers used the data to estimate how much butter and plant oils they ate.

Total butter intake included butter from butter and margarine blend, spreadable butter added to food and bread, and butter used in baking and frying at home. The intake of plant-based oils was estimated based on the reported use in frying, sautéing, baking, and salad dressing.

The researchers also identified participants who had died and their causes of death. Using statistics to compare death rates across different diet intake levels, the researchers found that participants who ate the most butter had a 15% higher risk of dying than those who ate the least. In contrast, those who ate the most plant-based oils had a 16% lower risk of death than those who ate the least.

"People might want to consider that a simple dietary swap — replacing butter with soybean or olive oil — can lead to significant long-term health benefits," said corresponding author Daniel Wang, MD, ScD, of the Channing Division of Network Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Wang is also an assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard Chan School and an associate member at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. "From a public health perspective, this is a substantial number of deaths from cancer or from other chronic diseases that could be prevented."

The researchers also did a substitution analysis, which mimics how swapping butter for plant oils would impact health in a feeding trial. They found that substituting 10 grams of butter a day (less than a tablespoon) with equivalent calories of plant-based oils could lower cancer deaths and overall mortality by 17%.

"Even cutting back butter a little and incorporating more plant-based oils into your daily diet can have meaningful long-term health benefits," Wang said.

One limitation of the study is that the participants are mainly health professionals, so they might not represent the U.S. population as a whole, the researchers said. In the future, they'd like to study the biological mechanisms underlying why this dietary change has such a large impact.

Authorship: In addition to Zhang and Wang, Mass General Brigham authors include Katia S. Chadaideh, Yuhan Li, Yuxi Liu, Eric B. Rimm, Frank B. Hu, Walter C. Willett, and Meir J. Stampfer. Additional authors include Yanping Li, Xiao Gu, and Marta Guasch-Ferré.

Disclosures: None.

Funding: This study was supported by research grants from the National Institutes of Health (UM1 CA186107, P01 CA87969, R01 HL034594, R01 HL088521, U01 CA176726, U01 HL145386, U01 CA167552, R01 HL35464, R01 HL60712, P30 DK46200, R00 DK119412, R01 AG077489 and R01 NR019992). The funding source had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Paper cited: Zhang Y et al. " Butter and plant-based oils intake and mortality in US women and men " JAMA Internal Medicine DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2025.0205

###

About Mass General Brigham

Mass General Brigham is an integrated academic health care system, uniting great minds to solve the hardest problems in medicine for our communities and the world. Mass General Brigham connects a full continuum of care across a system of academic medical centers, community and specialty hospitals, a health insurance plan, physician networks, community health centers, home care, and long-term care services. Mass General Brigham is a nonprofit organization committed to patient care, research, teaching, and service to the community. In addition, Mass General Brigham is one of the nation's leading biomedical research organizations with several Harvard Medical School teaching hospitals. For more information, please visit massgeneralbrigham.org.

Journal

JAMA Internal Medicine

DOI

10.1001/jamainternmed.2025.0205 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Butter and Plant-Based Oils Intake and Mortality

Article Publication Date

6-Mar-2025

Posted by at No comments:

 

Scientists identify genes that make humans and Labradors more likely to become obese




University of Cambridge
Facebook
XLinkedIn
MessageWhatsAppEmail
Chocolate Labrador being offered food 

image: 

Dogs carrying the genetic variant most associated with obesity, DENND1B, had around 8% more body fat than those without it.

view more 

Credit: University of Cambridge




Researchers studying British Labrador retrievers have identified multiple genes associated with canine obesity and shown that these genes are also associated with obesity in humans.

The dog gene found to be most strongly associated with obesity in Labradors is called DENND1B. Humans also carry the

DENND1B gene, and the researchers found that this gene is also linked with obesity in people.  

DENND1B was found to directly affect a brain pathway responsible for regulating the energy balance in the body, called the leptin melanocortin pathway.  

An additional four genes associated with canine obesity, but which exert a smaller effect than DENND1B, were also mapped directly onto human genes. 

“These genes are not immediately obvious targets for weight-loss drugs, because they control other key biological processes in the body that should not be interfered with. But the results emphasise the importance of fundamental brain pathways in controlling appetite and body weight,” said Alyce McClellan in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, and joint first author of the report.  

“We found that dogs at high genetic risk of obesity were more interested in food,” said Natalie Wallis in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, and joint first author of the report.  

She added: “We measured how much dogs pestered their owners for food and whether they were fussy eaters. Dogs at high genetic risk of obesity showed signs of having higher appetite, as has also been shown for people at high genetic risk of obesity.”  

The study found that owners who strictly controlled their dogs’ diet and exercise managed to prevent even those with high genetic risk from becoming obese - but much more attention and effort was required.  

Similarly, people at high genetic risk of developing obesity will not necessarily become obese, if they follow a strict diet and exercise regime - but they are more prone to weight gain. 

As with human obesity, no single gene determined whether the dogs were prone to obesity; the net effect of multiple genetic variants determined whether dogs were at high or low risk. 

The results are published today in the journal Science. 

“Studying the dogs showed us something really powerful: owners of slim dogs are not morally superior. The same is true of slim people. If you have a high genetic risk of obesity, then when there’s lots of food available you’re prone to overeating and gaining weight unless you put a huge effort into not doing so,” said Dr Eleanor Raffan, a researcher in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience who led the study. 

She added: “By studying dogs we could measure their desire for food separately to the control owners exerted over their dog’s diet and exercise. In human studies, it’s harder to study how genetically driven appetite requires greater willpower to remain slim, as both are affecting the one person.” 

The current human obesity epidemic is mirrored by an obesity epidemic in dogs. About 40-60% of pet dogs are overweight or obese, which can lead to a range of health problems. 

Dogs are a good model for studying human obesity: they develop obesity through similar environmental influences as humans, and because dogs within any given breed have a high degree of genetic similarity, their genes can be more easily linked to disease. 

To get their results, the researchers recruited owners with pet dogs in which they measured body fat, scored ‘greediness’, and took a saliva sample for DNA. Then they analysed the genetics of each dog. By comparing the obesity status of the dog to its DNA, they could identify the genes linked to canine obesity. 

Dogs carrying the genetic variant most associated with obesity, DENND1B, had around 8% more body fat than those without it.  

The researchers then examined whether the genes they identified were relevant to human obesity. They looked at both large population-based studies, and at cohorts of patients with severe, early onset obesity where single genetic changes are suspected to cause the weight gain.  

The researchers say owners can keep their dogs distracted from constant hunger by spreading out each daily food ration, for example by using puzzle feeders or scattering the food around the garden so it takes longer to eat, or by choosing a more satisfying nutrient composition for their pets. 

Raffan said: “This work shows how similar dogs are to humans genetically. Studying the dogs meant we had reason to focus on this particular gene, which has led to a big advance in understanding how our own brain controls our eating behaviour and energy use.”
 

The research found that dogs at high genetic risk of obesity were more interested in food

Credit

University of Cambridge


Journal

Science

DOI

10.1126/science.ads2145 

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Canine genome-wide association study identifies DENND1B as an obesity gene in dogs and humans

Article Publication Date

6-Mar-2025

Posted by at No comments:

 

Paralyzed man moves robotic arm with his thoughts




University of California - San Francisco
Facebook
XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail





Researchers at UC San Francisco have enabled a man who is paralyzed to control a robotic arm through a device that relays signals from his brain to a computer.  

He was able to grasp, move and drop objects just by imagining himself performing the actions.  

The device, known as a brain-computer interface (BCI), worked for a record 7 months without needing to be adjusted. Until now, such devices have only worked for a day or two.  

The BCI relies on an AI model that can adjust to the small changes that take place in the brain as a person repeats a movement – or in this case, an imagined movement – and learns to do it in a more refined way.  

“This blending of learning between humans and AI is the next phase for these brain-computer interfaces,” said neurologist, Karunesh Ganguly, MD, PhD, a professor of neurology and a member of the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences. “It’s what we need to achieve sophisticated, lifelike function.” 

The study, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health, appears March 6 in Cell.  

The key was the discovery of how activity shifts in the brain day to day as a study participant repeatedly imagined making specific movements. Once the AI was programmed to account for those shifts, it worked for months at a time. 

Location, location, location 

Ganguly studied how patterns of brain activity in animals represent specific movements and saw that these representations changed day-to-day as the animal learned. He suspected the same thing was happening in humans, and that was why their BCIs so quickly lost the ability to recognize these patterns.  

Ganguly and neurology researcher Nikhilesh Natraj, PhD, worked with a study participant who had been paralyzed by a stroke years earlier. He could not speak or move. 

He had tiny sensors implanted on the surface of his brain that could pick up brain activity when he imagined moving.  

To see whether his brain patterns changed over time, Ganguly asked the participant to imagine moving different parts of his body, like his hands, feet or head. 

Although he couldn’t actually move, the participant’s brain could still produce the signals for a movement when he imagined himself doing it. The BCI recorded the brain’s representations of these movements through the sensors on his brain. 

Ganguly’s team found that the shape of representations in the brain stayed the same, but their locations shifted slightly from day to day.  

From virtual to reality 

Ganguly then asked the participant to imagine himself making simple movements with his fingers, hands or thumbs over the course of two weeks, while the sensors recorded his brain activity to train the AI. 

Then, the participant tried to control a robotic arm and hand. But the movements still weren’t very precise.  

So, Ganguly had the participant practice on a virtual robot arm that gave him feedback on the accuracy of his visualizations. Eventually, he got the virtual arm to do what he wanted it to do.  

Once the participant began practicing with the real robot arm, it only took a few practice sessions for him to transfer his skills to the real world.  

He could make the robotic arm pick up blocks, turn them and move them to new locations. He was even able to open a cabinet, take out a cup and hold it up to a water dispenser.  

Months later, the participant was still able to control the robotic arm after a 15-minute “tune-up” to adjust for how his movement representations had drifted since he had begun using the device.  

Ganguly is now refining the AI models to make the robotic arm move faster and more smoothly, and planning to test the BCI in a home environment.  

For people with paralysis, the ability to feed themselves or get a drink of water would be life changing.  

Ganguly thinks this is within reach.  

“I’m very confident that we’ve learned how to build the system now, and that we can make this work,” he said.  

Authors: Other authors of this study include Sarah Seko and Adelyn Tu-Chan of UCSF and Reza Abiri of the University of Rhode Island. 

Funding: This work was supported by National Institutes of Health (1 DP2 HD087955) and the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences.  
 

About UCSF: The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is exclusively focused on the health sciences and is dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. UCSF Health, which serves as UCSF's primary academic medical center, includes top-ranked specialty hospitals and other clinical programs, and has affiliations throughout the Bay Area. UCSF School of Medicine also has a regional campus in Fresno. Learn more at ucsf.edu, or see our Fact Sheet.

###

 

Follow UCSF
ucsf.edu | Facebook.com/ucsf | YouTube.com/ucsf

Journal

Cell

Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Comments (Atom)