Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0004153 (atherosclerosis)
 77,401 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Prospective studies have reported a positive association of excess fatigue and hopelessness with coronary heart disease mortality; a relation to atherosclerosis has not been investigated. We examined the cross-sectional association of the Maastricht excess fatigue questionnaire with carotid intimal-medial wall thickness among 12,448 coronary heart disease-free individuals age 47-68 years. In age-, race-, and field center-adjusted analyses, we found a strong, positive association between excess fatigue and carotid intimal-medial wall thickness in both sexes. Adjustment for other coronary heart disease risk factors substantially attenuated the relation. Pack-years of smoking was the strongest confounder. Furthermore, there was little association among never-smokers. It appears that the association of excess fatigue with atherosclerotic disease is largely accounted for by established risk factors.
 ...
PMID:No relation between excess fatigue and asymptomatic carotid atherosclerosis. 889 92

The importance of hope has long been recognized, whereas a lack of hope, or "giving up," is generally believed to have a negative impact on psychological well-being and physical health. Recently, hopelessness has been identified as a strong, independent predictor of cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality in both American and Finnish populations. In this study we examined the association between high levels of hopelessness and progression of carotid atherosclerosis in participants (n = 942) in the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Study, a population-based study of middle-aged men from eastern Finland who underwent carotid ultrasonography at baseline and 4 years later. Men reporting high levels of hopelessness at baseline had faster progression of carotid atherosclerosis, assessed by four measures of intima-media thickening (IMT), than men reporting low to moderate levels of hopelessness. Further analyses revealed significant interactions between hopelessness and initial level of atherosclerosis, such that the effects of high hopelessness on progression were greatest among men who had baseline mean IMT values at or above the median. Moreover, progression was greatest among men reporting high levels of hopelessness at both baseline and follow-up. Traditional coronary risk factors and use of cholesterol-lowering and antihypertensive medications did not account for much variance in the observed relationships. These findings indicate that hopelessness contributes to accelerated progression of carotid atherosclerosis, particularly among men with early evidence of atherosclerosis, and that chronically high levels of hopelessness may be especially detrimental. Additional research is needed to identify the contributory pathways and/or mechanisms underlying these relationships.
 ...
PMID:Hopelessness and 4-year progression of carotid atherosclerosis. The Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study. 930 25

Hopelessness and hostility are linked to progression of carotid atherosclerosis (PCA). The purpose of this study was to replicate such relations and to evaluate the role of biological pathways involving hyperactivation of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis. PCA was evaluated by 4-year change in three ultrasound measures of intima-media thickness (IMT) in 1027 men aged 42-60 years at baseline. Effect modification and mediation of relationships between psychosocial factors and PCA were examined for the measures systolic blood pressure (SBP), fibrinogen, and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), levels of which are indicative of activity along these pathways. Hopelessness and hostility were associated with PCA. Fibrinogen mediated to a moderate extent the association between hopelessness and PCA. SBP significantly modified the relation between hostility and PCA in participants of moderate hostility. The above biological pathways are implicated in the mechanisms connecting hopelessness, hostility, and PCA.
 ...
PMID:Mediation and modification of the association between hopelessness, hostility, and progression of carotid atherosclerosis. 1588 76

Feelings of hopelessness are prospectively associated with increased risk of death, progression of atherosclerosis and other health outcomes. Places as well as people may promote a sense of hopelessness. We used the Chicago Community Adult Health Study to investigate whether feelings of hopelessness cluster at the neighborhood level. Random-intercept logistic models were used to examine associations of hopelessness with neighborhood conditions (physical disorder and decay, perceived violence and disorder, social cohesion) and census-based measures of neighborhood socioeconomic conditions (poverty, unemployment, % high school dropouts) from 1980-2000. Of the 3074 participants, 459 were categorized as experiencing hopelessness. Greater physical disorder and perceived disorder and a higher unemployment rate were associated with increased odds of hopelessness. Individuals' reports of hopelessness reflect physical, socioeconomic, and opportunity characteristics of their neighborhoods above and beyond their individual characteristics. Changing opportunity structures in a neighborhood may play a key role in reducing individuals' feelings of hopelessness.
 ...
PMID:Are there hopeless neighborhoods? An exploration of environmental associations between individual-level feelings of hopelessness and neighborhood characteristics. 2226 6