image: First author Marjan Walli-Attaei, a research fellow at the Population Health Research Institute (PHRI) of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences view more
Credit: Population Health Research Institute
Media Release
Embargoed by The Lancet until Thursday, September 8, 2022 at 6:30 pm EDT
Hamilton, ON (Sept. 8, 2022) Women and men share most of the same risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), a large international study has found – the first such study to include people not only from high income countries, but also from low- and middle-income countries where the burden of CVD is the greatest.
The study was published today in The Lancet.
The global study assessed risk factors, including metabolic (such as high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes), behavioural (smoking and diet), and psychosocial (economic status and depression) in about 156,000 people without a history of CVD between the ages of 35 and 70. Living in 21 low, middle and high-income countries on five continents, they were followed for an average of 10 years.
“Women and men have similar CVD risk factors, which emphasizes the importance of a similar strategy for the prevention of CVD in men and women,” said the paper’s first author Marjan Walli-Attaei, a research fellow at the Population Health Research Institute (PHRI) of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS).
Overall, women had a lower risk of developing CVD than men, especially at younger ages.
However, diet was more strongly associated with CVD risk in woman than men – “something that’s not been previous described, and which requires independent confirmation,” said Salim Yusuf, lead investigator of the study, senior author, executive director of PHRI, professor of medicine at McMaster University, and cardiologist at HHS.
High levels of bad (LDL) cholesterol and symptoms of depression were more strongly associated with CVD risk in men than in women.
The patterns of these findings were generally similar in high-income countries and upper-middle-income countries, and in low-income and lower-middle-income countries.
Funding was provided by the PHRI, Hamilton Health Sciences Research Institute, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (including through the Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research via the Ontario SPOR Support Unit), the Ontario branch of the Heart and Stroke Foundation, and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
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Editors: A photo of Marjan Walli-Attaei may be downloaded from: https://macdrive.mcmaster.ca/d/24b15bea48f04a3fb27d/
Post embargo link to the paper: : https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)01441-6/fulltext
For information, please contact:
Veronica McGuire
Media Relations, Faculty of Health Sciences
McMaster University
vmcguir@mcmaster.ca
M: 289-776-6952
Heather Angus-Lee
Communications
Population Health Research Institute (PHRI)
heather.angus-lee@phri.ca
M: 905-308-0038
Wendy Stewart
Communications & Public Affairs
Hamilton Health Sciences
stewartwen@HHSC.CA
Journal
The Lancet
Method of Research
Randomized controlled/clinical trial
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
Metabolic, behavioural, and psychosocial risk factors and cardiovascular disease in women compared with men in 21 high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries: an analysis of the PURE study
Article Publication Date
8-Sep-2022
COI Statement
LMP-V received a grant from the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development to support this study. AW received funding support from the Population Health Research Institute for participation in the study as site principal investigator and is a member of the Board of Directors of the InterAmerican Heart Foundation. SSA received speaker and consulting fees from both Bayer AG and Janssen Pharma for work conducted outside the scope of this study. All other authors declare no competing interests.