Ethnic and Environmental Differences in Various Markers of Dietary Intake and Blood Pressure among Chinese Han and Three Other Minority Peoples of China: Results from the WHO Cardiovascular Diseases and Alimentary Comparison(CARDIAC) Study.

Abstract

Our aim was to examine differences in dietary intake and blood pressure (BP) and their associations in four different ethnic Chinese populations, the Han, the Uygur, the Kazak and Tibetan subjects. This study used a sub-database of the Chinese sample of the WHO-Cardiovascular Diseases and Alimentary Comparison (CARDIAC) Study. The WHO-CARDIAC Study was a multicenter cross-sectional study. In each center, 100 men and 100 women aged 48-56 years were selected at random from the local population. Various markers of dietary intake and their relation with BP were studied. The results of the present study indicated the following. 1) There were significant differences in mean BP and prevalence rates of hypertension, with both being higher in the Kazak and Tibetan subjects than in Han and Uygur subjects. 2) The highest mean body mass index (BMI) was observed in the Kazak subjects, while the highest 24-h urinary sodium (Na) and sodium to potassium (Na/K) ratio excretion were observed in the Tibetan subjects. There were also significant differences in other factors, such as magnesium, 3-methylhistidine (3MH) (a biological marker of animal protein intake) and taurine (a biological marker of seafood intake) excretion levels among the four ethnic peoples. 3) In general, BMI, Na and/or Na/K ratios were positively, and 3MH/creatinine and taurine/creatinine ratios were negatively associated with BP. 4) After adjustment for age, sex and potassium, subjects with obesity (BMI > or =26 kg/m2) had significantly higher relative risk of being hypertensive (HT) than those with BMI<26 kg/m2 in the Han, Uygur and Kazak populations; and subjects with elevated sodium excretion (Na > or =244 mmol/day) had significantly higher relative risk of being HT than those with Na<244 mmol/day in the Han, Uygur and Tibetan populations. In conclusion, mean BP and prevalence rates of hypertension were significantly different among the four ethnic groups. These differences are likely to be due, at least in part, to the differences in several diet-related factors, which in turn are associated with culture and environmental differences. Different health promotion strategies might thus be emphasized in different populations.

The Relationship between Pulse Wave Velocity and Pulse Pressure in Chinese Patients with Essential Hypertension

“…When treated and untreated subjects were combined, we found that PWV was still closely correlated with PP. In addition, Liu et al (15) showed that BP was significantly different among the different ethnic Chinese populations. Because most of the subjects in our study were from the Han population, and there were very few subjects from other ethnic populations, we could not address the question of whether or not the PWVs vary among different ethnic populations, although we presume that such ethnic differences exist.…”

Epidemiological Evidence of the Association between Dietary Protein Intake and Blood Pressure: A Meta-Analysis of Published Data.

“…This dietary protein-BP association was stronger in men than in women, but the coefficients in both genders appeared to be fairly small (ranging from 0.014 to 0.03). This small association may be explained in part by the potential competition risks of multi-factorial effect on BP, such as the associations of BP with salt intake, body mass index, potassium, calcium etc., which have been confirmed to have strong effect on BP in several studies (7,10,13,(26)(27)(28). However, if we consider the long-term effect of such an association and its inter-relation with other factors, a small but significant protein-BP association might play an important role in regulating BP.…”

Does dietary salt induce autoimmunity?

“…In addition, intakes of less than 100 mmol/d (2.30 g/d) were recorded in South Africa from 24-hour recall data, but analysis of data obtained from concomitant 24-hour urine collections gave urinary sodium excretion estimates ranging from 135-165 mmol/d (3.11-3.80 g/d) (Charlton et al, 2005). Studies in China gave urinary sodium excretion estimates ranging from 174-254 mmol/d (4.00-5.84 g/d) based on a single 24-hour urine collection (Liu et al, 2001), and up to 4.84 g/d (210 mmol/d) based on a food frequency questionnaire (Woo et al, 1998).…”