Because of the 4,035 Forsyth County residents who participated in a long-running study of heart disease risk factors, researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and colleagues have made major findings such as how being overweight is associated with becoming disabled and that passive smoking increases the risk of hardening of the arteries.
Participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study have been invited to hear an update on the study at a 20th anniversary observance on April 12 at the Hawthorne Inn and Conference Center.
"This study has made important findings about heart disease that wouldn't have been possible without this large group of people who participated," said Lynne E. Wagenknecht, DrPH, professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Prevention at Wake Forest Baptist. "What we've learned from this study has been used by national health organizations to make recommendations to improve heart health for two decades."
The ARIC study, sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, involves four U.S. communities. The other communities - with about 4,000 participants each - are Jackson, Miss., Minneapolis, Minn., and Hagerstown, Md. The study is designed to investigate the natural occurrence of atherosclerosis, which is the buildup of fatty deposits in blood vessels that can lead to heart attack and stroke. The overall goal of the study is to determine what causes heart disease and stroke and why some people are more at risk than others.
Major findings of the study have been: