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Cohort data reveal connection between childhood, adulthood atherosclerosis
Juonala M. Circulation. 2010;doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.110.966465.
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Carotid intima-media thickness in children who were at least 9 years of age was predictive of atherosclerosis later in life, according to newly published data.
The study featured 4,380 members of four prospective cohorts, including the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study, the Childhood Determinants of Adult Health Study, the Bogalusa Heart Study and the Muscatine Study. The studies included CV risk factor data from youth aged 3 to 18 years who also had intima-media thickness (IMT) measurements taken during adulthood (20 to 45 years of age). The risk factors included high levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides and BP, as well as an elevated BMI.
At a mean follow-up of 22.4 years after baseline, researchers reported that childhood risk factors were strongly associated with elevated IMT at the age of 9 (OR=1.37; 95% CI, 1.16-1.61), 12 (OR=1.48, 95% CI, 1.28-1.72), 15 (OR=1.56; 95% CI, 1.36-1.78) and 18 (OR=1.57; 95% CI, 1.31-1.87) years.
However, the association with risk factors was not statistically significant when measured in children aged 3 (OR=1.17; 95% CI, 0.80-1.71) and 6 (OR=1.20; 95% CI, 0.96-1.51) years.
“Our analyses from four longitudinal cohort studies showed that the strength of the associations between childhood risk factors and carotid IMT are dependent on childhood age,” the researchers concluded. “Based on these data, risk factor measurements performed at or after 9 years of age are predictive of subclinical atherosclerosis in adulthood.”
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