Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Multicenter Study
. 2014 Jul 1;130(1):10-7.
doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.113.005445. Epub 2014 Apr 28.

Healthy lifestyle change and subclinical atherosclerosis in young adults: Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study

Bonnie Spring  1 , Arlen C Moller  2 , Laura A Colangelo  2 , Juned Siddique  2 , Megan Roehrig  2 , Martha L Daviglus  2 , Joseph F Polak  2 , Jared P Reis  2 , Stephen Sidney  2 , Kiang Liu  2
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Healthy lifestyle change and subclinical atherosclerosis in young adults: Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study

Bonnie Spring et al. Circulation. .

Abstract

Background: The benefits of healthy habits are well established, but it is unclear whether making health behavior changes as an adult can still alter coronary artery disease risk.

Methods and results: The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) prospective cohort study (n=3538) assessed 5 healthy lifestyle factors (HLFs) among young adults aged 18 to 30 years (year 0 baseline) and 20 years later (year 20): not overweight/obese, low alcohol intake, healthy diet, physically active, nonsmoker. We tested whether change from year 0 to 20 in a continuous composite HLF score (HLF change; range, -5 to +5) is associated with subclinical atherosclerosis (coronary artery calcification and carotid intima-media thickness) at year 20, after adjustment for demographics, medications, and baseline HLFs. By year 20, 25.3% of the sample improved (HLF change ≥+1); 40.4% deteriorated (had fewer HLFs); 34.4% stayed the same; and 19.2% had coronary artery calcification (>0). Each increase in HLFs was associated with reduced odds of detectable coronary artery calcification (odds ratio=0.85; 95% confidence interval, 0.74-0.98) and lower intima-media thickness (carotid bulb β=-0.024, P=0.001), and each decrease in HLFs was predictive to a similar degree of greater odds of coronary artery calcification (odds ratio=1.17; 95% confidence interval, 1.02-1.33) and greater intima-media thickness (β=+0.020, P<0.01).

Conclusions: Healthy lifestyle changes during young adulthood are associated with decreased risk and unhealthy lifestyle changes are associated with increased risk for subclinical atherosclerosis in middle age.

Keywords: behavior modification; behavioral medicine; cardiovascular diseases; epidemiology; follow-up study; prevention; risk factors.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Graded relationship observed between HLF change (from Year 0 to Year 20) and incidence of CAC at Year 20. Green shows those who increased HLFs. Gray shows those whose HLFs stayed the same. Red shows those who decreased HLFs. Checked section signifies CAC between 1–100; Dotted section signifies CAC >100. Adjusted for age, race, sex, and baseline number of HLFs; based on imputed data.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Graded relationship observed between HLF change (from Year 0 to Year 20) and incidence of Bulb IMT above the 80th percentile at Year 20. Green shows those who increased HLFs. Gray shows those whose HLFs stayed the same. Red shows those who decreased HLFs. Checked section signifies bulb IMT between 80th – 90th percentile. Dotted section signifies IMT >90th percentile. Adjusted for age, race, sex, and baseline number of HLFs; based on imputed data.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Xu J, Kochanek KD, Murphy SL, Tejada-Vera B. Deaths: Final data for 2007. Natl Vital Stat Rep. 2010;58 Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr58_19.pdf. - PubMed
    1. Lloyd-Jones DM, Hong Y, Labarthe D, Mozaffarian D, Appel LJ, Van Horn L, Greenlund K, Daniels S, Nichol G, Tomaselli GF, Arnett DK, Fonarow GC, Ho PM, Lauer MS, Masoudi FA, Robertson RM, Roger V, Schwamm LH, Sorlie P, Yancy CW, Rosamond WD American Heart Association Strategic Planning Task F, Statistics C. Defining and setting national goals for cardiovascular health promotion and disease reduction: The american heart association's strategic impact goal through 2020 and beyond. Circulation. 2010;121:586–613. - PubMed
    1. Lloyd-Jones D, Adams R, Carnethon M, De Simone G, Ferguson TB, Flegal K, Ford E, Furie K, Go A, Greenlund K, Haase N, Hailpern S, Ho M, Howard V, Kissela B, Kittner S, Lackland D, Lisabeth L, Marelli A, McDermott M, Meigs J, Mozaffarian D, Nichol G, O'Donnell C, Roger V, Rosamond W, Sacco R, Sorlie P, Stafford R, Steinberger J, Thom T, Wasserthiel-Smoller S, Wong N, Wylie-Rosett J, Hong Y American Heart Association Statistics C, Stroke Statistics S. Heart disease and stroke statistics--2009 update: A report from the american heart association statistics committee and stroke statistics subcommittee. Circulation. 2009;119:480–486. - PubMed
    1. Scarborough P, Bhatnagar P, Wickramasinghe K. Coronary heart disease statistics. Vol. 2010 British Heart Foundation; 2010.
    1. World Health Organization., Public Health Agency of Canada. Preventing chronic diseases : A vital investment. Geneva; Ottawa: World Health Organization; Public Health Agency of Canada; 2005.

Publication types

MeSH terms