Risk Evaluation for Arteriosclerosis by Using “Vascular Aging Score” of the Acceleration Plethysmography

10-year' Retrospective Cohort Study

Abstract

We developed the new machine to record the acceleration plethysmograms (APG), and we have been trying the evaluation of the elasticity of the arteries by the score method. The“vascular aging score”is the index, by which we guess how much our blood vessels deviate from the normal aging process. The purpose of this research is to get the relative risk for the arteriosclerosis not by the disease, but by catching the aging change of the artery before disease with APG, and to examine the validity of the APG inspection. We examined 549 people whose ages were from 45 to 64 years old. The prevalence of the high blood pressure in the abnormal score group of APG was higher, and there were more smokers or ex-smokers in the abnormal score group than the normal score group (35.4%, 67.7%) . Furthermore, we examined 247 people who had taken a medical examination 10 years ago as well. The 22.8% of the people who had had high serum triglycerides showed the score abnormality after 10 years, and relative risk was 2.5 times (p<0.05) . The 22.9% of people who had had hearing-decline (at the level of 4, 000 Hz), the 18.6% of obese people, and the 16.8% of smokers or ex smokers showed an abundant tendency of the score abnormality (p<0.1) . The relative risk was 2.2 times, 1.8 times and 2.0 times, respectively. The conclusion from the results is as follows. 1) As for the present high blood pressure person and the present smoker in the ages 45-65, it is often judged an artery elasticity decline in the APG inspection. 2) As for the people of ages 35-55 who have high TG, the hearing decline, obesity and smoking habit, it would have the possibility to be judged an artery elasticity decline after 10 years, in the APG inspection. The APG score method is thought to have validity to the screening and the patient's education and so on. So, this APG method is expected to have some contribution for the prevention of the life-style related disease. The prospective cohort study is required from now on to get a more detailed result.