The measurement of the carotids is a direct indicator of the risk of strokes, since the blood supply for the brain courses primarily through those arteries. But since atherosclerotic buildup in the carotid arteries generally occurs in other arteries as well, the measurement of the carotids is an indirect indication of clogging of the coronary arteries supplying the heart.
The results suggest that "artery wall thickness is by itself as powerful a predictor of cardiovascular events as the traditional risk factors," said Burke
CHS is an observational study. The health of the participants is monitored regularly, and physical condition, lifestyle, diet and other parameters are recorded, but diagnosis and treatment is left in the hands of personal physicians. It is the largest National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute project to study cardiovascular disease in an elderly population.
Besides ultrasound of the carotid arteries of the neck, CHS uses other non-invasive, objective measures of both subclinical and clinical chronic diseases -- such as echocardiograms, electrocardiograms, spirometry to measure lung function, fasting glucose levels to look for diabetes, and objective measures of loss of memory and brain function.
The goal of the study is to learn as much as possible about the lifestyles and the physical condition of the participants at the outset to see how these factors affect the evolution of heart attacks and strokes.
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Contact: Robert Conn, Mark Wright or Jim Steele
rconn@wfubmc.edu
336-716-4977
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center
7-Jan-1999