Biological and social correlates of blood pressure among Japanese men in Hawaii.

Abstract

SUMMARY A cohort of more than 8000 Japanese men living in Hawaii was studied for factors associated with blood pressure levels, with an emphasis on biological and sociocultural variables. Bivariate and multivariate analyses of more than 50 variables indicated that obesity, age, hematocrit, heart rate, forced vital capacity, serum triglyceride, serum uric acid, cigarette consumption, and family history of hypertension were independently associated with both cross-sectional levels and longitudinal changes in blood pressure. Serum glucose and alcohol consumption were associated with cross-sectional levels only. There was little evidence of association for specific dietary items, type of diet, diet changes, or use of salt. The two most common hypotheses offered to explain these findings focus upon diet and life style changes on one side, and psychosocial factors such as stressful life changes and status incongruity on the other. 3 The existing studies are inconsistent, however, and provide no clear means of sorting out the relative merits of these different hypotheses. "4 This is partly due to a lack of studies that examine the different types of variables in the same group of subjects. We report a study of blood pressure of Japanese men living in Hawaii measured at a 6-year interval. A broad range of life style and sociocultural characteristics as well as standard biological measurements were available for analysis. MethodsThe Honolulu Heart Program is a prospective study of coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke among a cohort of Japanese men born between 1900 and 1919 and living on Oahu in 1965. About 12% of this group were migrant farmers from southern Japan who were recruited for agricultural labor in Hawaii, 54% were born on the rural outer islands of Hawaii and later migrated to Honolulu, and 34% were born in Honolulu. Of the Hawaiian-born men, about 10% were sent to Japan for 10 or more years of school. Details of the examination and laboratory tests have been described elsewhere. "7 Briefly, 8006 men completed the initial examination during the years 1965 to 1968, and 6858 of them returned for the third examination 6 years after the first examination. Information concerning demographic, sociocultural, and medical history were obtained during a structured interview by a nurse interviewer. Blood pressure was measured twice by a nurse and once by a physician at the first examination, and once by each at the third examination. A mercury manometer with a standard cuff was applied to the left arm of a seated subject. Diastolic blood pressure (DBP) was recorded as the fifth Korotkoff phase. The mean of all available blood pressure measurements for each subject was used. When qualitative groupings of blood pressure were used, they followed the WHO standards. 8 Resting heart rates were obtained from EKG recordings.Evaluation of each man's diet was done by a dietitian using the 24-hour recall method. Blood specimens were collected 1 hour after a 50 g glucose load, and chemical determinations were made at the USPHS H...

Alcohol consumption and blood pressure change: 5-year follow-up study of the association in normotensive workers

“…On the other hand, some studies have reported that baseline alcohol consumption is significantly associated with baseline blood pressure, but not with changes in blood pressure during the observation period. 13,14 These conflicting findings suggest that the effects of initial daily alcohol consumption on changes in blood pressure remain unconfirmed. Our study found, nevertheless, that initial daily alcohol consumption significantly and independently associates with changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure in middle-aged Japanese workers.…”

Relation of urinary urea to blood pressure: interaction with urinary sodium

“…1 With use of reported dietary intake, conflicting evidence was obtained on the relation of protein intake to blood pressure. An inverse relation was found in Japanese 2,3 and Chinese men, 4 and in men from the US with one or more major risk factors for coronary heart disease. 5,6 A direct relation or absence of significant relation were found in other studies.…”

Ten-year incidence of elevated blood pressure and its predictors: The CARDIA Study

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Heart rate and cigarette smoking have also been positively related to incidence of hypertension, 3,[5][6][7][8]12,14,[16][17][18] although cigarette smoking has generally been inversely related to blood pressure (BP) in cross-sectional studies. [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] Education and social status have been inversely related to BP and hypertension in both cross-sectional and prospective studies. 12,16,23,28,29 Only four prospective studies examined one or more of these variables as possible risk factors for hypertension separately in black subjects 9,12,16 or women.…”