Related Experiment Videos
Associations between white blood cell count and risk for cerebrovascular disease mortality: NHANES II Mortality
David W Brown1, Earl S Ford, Wayne H Giles
1Division of Adult and Community Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA. dbrown6@cdc.gov
Purpose:
To examine associations between elevated white blood cell count (WBC) and cerebrovascular disease (CeVD) mortality independent of cigarette smoking and by gender.
Methods:
We used Cox regression analyses of data from 8459 adults (3982 men; 4477 women) aged 30 to 75 years in the NHANES II Mortality Study (1976-1992) to estimate the relative risk of death from CeVD across quartiles of WBC.
Results:
During 17 years of follow-up, there were 192 deaths from CeVD (93 men; 99 women). Compared with those with WBC (cells/mm(3))<5700, adults with WBC>8200 were at increased risk of CeVD mortality (relative risk [RR], 2.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2-3.7) after adjustment for smoking and other cardiovascular disease risk factors. Similar results were observed among never smokers (RR, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.0-3.8). The adjusted relative risk of CeVD mortality comparing those with WBC>8200 to those with WBC<5700 was 1.5 (95% CI, 0.7-3.5) among men and 2.7 (95% CI, 1.4-5.0) among women.
Conclusions:
Elevated WBC may predict CeVD mortality even after considering the effects of smoking and other cardiovascular disease risk factors.
Related Concept Videos
01:27Psychoneuroimmunology: Cardiovascular Disease
A key area of focus in PNI is the relationship between stress and coronary...
01:19Blood Studies for Cardiovascular System II: CRP, Hcy, and Cardiac Natriuretic Peptide Markers
These markers indicate stress or strain on the heart muscle:
Natriuretic Peptides (BNP)
Cardiac myocytes produce these hormones in response to ventricular stretching...