Special Issue "Cardiovascular Diseases and Public Health"

Guest Editor
Dr. Kathryn M. Rose
Cardiovascular Disease Program, Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 137 E Franklin Street, Suite 306, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA
Website: http://www.sph.unc.edu/images/stories/cv_storage/702763270_cv.pdf
E-Mail:
Interests: cardiovascular disease epidemiology; socioeconomic and geographic health disparities; population-based cardiovascular disease surveillance

Dear Colleagues,

Despite decades of steady declines in coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke mortality in many western countries, cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide. With the aging of populations, higher rates of risk factors (e.g., smoking, physical inactivity), emerging epidemics (e.g., obesity, diabetes, heart failure) and increased economic costs associated with CHD survival, the burden of CVD is projected to steadily increase in coming decades, with less affluent individuals and countries being disproportionately impacted.
This special issue focuses on the contribution of socio-environmental characteristics to disparities in CVD within and across populations. Review papers that critically evaluate the current literature and incorporate suggestions for overcoming shortcomings in future research are encouraged, as are original research papers.

Kathryn Rose, Ph. D.
Guest Editor

Submission

The Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601) was launched in 2004 and is an Open Access journal, with the main Editorial Office located in Basel, Switzerland. It has been accepted for coverage in Science Citation Index Expanded, available as the Web of Science and in Current Contents/Agriculture, Biology, and Environmental Sciences. Coverage will begin with the 2009 issues. This journal is also abstracted and indexed very rapidly by Chemical Abstracts, MedLine/PubMed and EMBASE. The IJERPH maintains a rapid editorial procedure and a rigorous peer-review system. Well written papers have been peer-reviewed and published in less than 4 weeks from manuscript submission. All papers published in IJERPH have DOI numbers.

All papers should be submitted to ijerph@mdpi.org with copy to the guest editor. To be published continuously until the deadline and papers will be listed together at this special issue website.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a paper. Open Access publication fees are 300 CHF per paper. English correction fees (250 CHF) will be added in certain cases (550 CHF per paper for those papers that require extensive additional formatting and/or English corrections.).

• cardiovascular disease
• stroke
• coronary heart disease
• heart failure
• socioeconomic disparities
• global burden of cardiovascular disease
• social environment
• socio-environmental characteristics
• socio-economic characteristics

Type of Paper: Article
Title: Biopsychosocial Determinants of Cardiovascular Disease in a Rural Population on Crete, Greece: Testing the Cretan Hypothesis and Designing the SPILI-III Study
Author: Christos Lionis
Affiliation: Clinic of Social and Family Medicine, Department of Social Medicine, University of Crete, Greece; E-Mail: lionis@galinos.med.uoc.gr
Abstract: Considerable literature evidence outlines the role of psycho-social factors on the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Morbidity and mortality of CVD have been relatively low in the population of Crete in the late 1950s and 1960s. The SPILI project was established in 1988, in a rural area of Crete in order to evaluate cardiovascular risk profile of a previously called “low risk” population. The first publications of this project revealed that against the identified unfavourable risk factors profile, only few men with a previous myocardial infarction were encountered. These results lead to an initial hypothesis that a possible cardio-protective role related to the closely-knit social network is existing in this population. A follow-up study (SPILI II) twelve years after the initial examination was performed and the unfavourable cardiovascular risk profile was also re-confirmed, leaving the initial hypothesis that inspired the original project in 1988 illusive. This paper presents the hypothesis formulated and more explicit tests whether dynamic psycho-social determinants, including social coherence of the local community, religiousness and spirituality, may protective against the development of coronary heart disease in that well-defined population. It also outlines the design and the methods of the SPILI III study and discusses what new insights this study expects to provide.

Type of Paper: Review
Title: Preventing and Managing Cardiometabolic Risk: The Logic for Intervention
Authors: Mark Pereira ¹, Thomas E. Kottke ^2,3, Courtney Jordan ¹, Patrick J. O’Connor ², Nicolaas P. Pronk ^2,3 and Rita Carreón ⁴
Affiliations: ¹ Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
² HealthPartners Research Foundation, Minneapolis, MN, USA
³ JourneyWell, Minneapolis, MN, USA
⁴ America’s Health Insurance Plans, Washington, DC, USA;
Emails: pereira@epi.umn.edu (M.P.); carr0172@umn.edu (C.J.); Patrick.J.OConnor@HealthPartners.Com (P.O’C.); Nico.P.Pronk@HealthPartners.Com (N.P.); rcarreon@ahip.org (R.C.); Thomas.e.kottke@healthpartners.com
Abstract: Cardiometabolic risk (CMR), also known a metabolic syndrome or insulin resistance syndrome, comprises obesity (particularly central or abdominal obesity), high triglycerides, low HDL, elevated blood pressure, and elevated plasma glucose. Leading to death from diabetes, heart disease, and stroke, the root cause of CMR is inadequate physical activity accompanied by a diet that is low in fiber and high in saturated fat. While the pathophysiological pathways related to CMR are complex, the universal need for adequate physical activity and a diet that emphasizes fruits and vegetables while minimizing saturated fat suggests that these behaviors are the appropriate focus of intervention.
Keywords: cardiometabolic risk; diet; physical activity; treatment; prevention; strategy

Type of Paper: Article
Title: The Nepal Heart Health Study Pilot: A Protocol to Assay Subclinical and Clinical Cardiovascular Disease in Resource-Poor Nations
Authors: Kenneth J. Mukamal¹, Shiva Gautam¹, Deewakar Sharma ², Sajan G. Baidya², Baghawan Koirala² and Annette Fitzpatrick³
Affiliations: ¹ Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA; E-mail: kmukamal@bidmc.harvard.edu
² Shahid Gangalal National Heart Center, Kathmandu, Nepal
³ University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
Abstract: This article describes a methodology developed to address the need for cardiovascular surveillance in South Asia where cardiovascular disease (CVD) has become an epidemic. Regionally appropriate questionnaires for CVD risk factors were iteratively developed including economic conditions, medical history, heart disease and stroke symptoms, tobacco exposure, diet, depression, and physical activity. Measures for clinical and subclinical disease included anthropometrics, physical function, electrocardiography, spirometry, ankle-brachial blood pressure, and blood collection. Preliminary results revealed high rates of untreated hypertension and indications of undiagnosed cerebrovascular accidents. This culturally-appropriate protocol may be modified by other resource-poor countries to further expand the understanding of CVD.

Type of Paper: Review
Title: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Occupational Particulate Exposures and Cardiovascular Disease
Authors: Shona Fang, Adrian Cassidy and David Christiani
Affiliation: Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health; E-Mails: sfang@hsph.harvard.edu (S.F.), Adrian.Cassidy@hse.gsi.gov.uk (A.C.), DCHRIS@hsph.harvard.edu (D.C.)
Abstract: Objective: Exposure to ambient particulate air pollution is a recognized risk factor for cardiovascular disease; however the link between occupational particulate exposures and adverse cardiovascular events is less clear.
Methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the epidemiologic association between occupational exposure to particulate matter and cardiovascular disease.
Results: A total of 37 (12 mortality, 5 morbidity, and 20 intermediate cardiovascular endpoint) studies were identified (January 1990 to April 2009).
Conclusions: There is suggestive evidence of an association between occupational particulate exposures and ischemic heart disease, as well as systemic inflammation, a potential biological mechanism linking particulate exposures with ischemic heart disease.

Type of Paper: Article
Title: Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Cuban American Women with and without Type 2 Diabetes
Authors: Fatma Huffman ¹, Joan Vaccaro ¹, Gustavo Zarini ¹ and Subrata Nath ²
Affiliations: ¹ Florida International University; Robert Stempel School of Public Health/ 11200 S. W. 8th Street Miami, FL 33199, USA; E-Mails: huffmanf@fiu.edu (F.H.); joan.vaccaro@comcast.net (J.V.), gzarini@hotmail.com (G.Z.)
² Department of Medicine, University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio/ San Antonio, TX 78229, USA; E-Mails: nath@uthscsa.edu (S.N.)
Abstract: Minority populations and women suffer greater health disparities than the general population. Recent health statistics for Cuban Americans are lacking. The purpose of this study was to assess dietary, biometrics and clinical predictors of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Cuban women with and without type 2 diabetes as compared to their age-matched controls. Cuban American adults: N=367; 190 with type 2 diabetes (72 males, 118 females) and 177 (59 males, 118 females) without diabetes were recruited from a randomly generated mailing list of Broward and Miami-Dade counties, Florida. Significant differences in predictors of CVD risk were found among gender and diabetes status. Glycemic control improved with increasing age for persons with diabetes, only (controlling for medication). Additional research is needed to confirm these results.
Keywords: Cuban American women; cardiovascular disease; type 2 diabetes