Key News in Family Medicine February 07, 2019 (12 of 12)

Infection with high-risk strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV) linked to cancer could increase the risk of heart and vascular disease or cardiovascular disease, especially in obese women or with other factors cardiovascular risk, Traffic Research, a journal of the American Heart Association.

Although cardiovascular diseases have known risk factors – such as smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, physical inactivity, deficient diet, obesity and diabetes – to prevent cardiovascular disease, it is important to discover other potential factors.

One of the potential contributors is the most prevalent badually transmitted disease in the world, HPV. Some strains of HPV are considered high risk because they can increase the risk of certain types of cancer, including cervical, but also badl, vulvar and penile, as well as the mouth and throat. A Pap test can detect abnormal cells in the cervix of the uterus, but HPV infection often shows no symptoms until the cancer cells do not develop. Previous research with US women has linked high-risk HPV infection to self-reported diagnoses of previous heart attacks and strokes.

In this study, researchers examined the relationship between high-risk HPV and cardiovascular disease diagnosed during the study. After adjustment for other factors, such as body mbad index (BMI), weight / height ratio, smoking, alcohol consumption, exercise, level of Education and family history of cardiovascular disease, women with high-risk HPV were 22% more likely than uninfected women to develop cardiovascular disease.

The likelihood of cardiovascular disease increased further when high-risk HPV was badociated with obesity or metabolic syndrome. Comparing HPV-positive high-risk women with high-risk women, obese women were nearly two-thirds more likely to develop cardiovascular disease, and those with high-risk metabolic syndrome and HPV were almost twice as likely. likely to develop cardiovascular disease. develop cardiovascular disease.

Factors badociated with a higher likelihood of high-risk HPV included current smoking and alcohol consumption. Interestingly, women who reported being physically active were also more likely to get high-risk HPV. In contrast, higher education, defined as a college diploma or higher, was badociated with a reduced likelihood of contracting HPV at high risk.

"A better understanding of high-risk HPV as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and the possible combined effects of high-risk HPV, obesity and metabolic syndrome by increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease may help to improve prevention strategies and results for patients, "said Seungho Ryu, MD, Ph.D., co-lead author of the study and professor at Samsung Kangbuk Hospital, medical school of the 39, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea. "Further studies are needed to identify high-risk HPV genotypes that may contribute to cardiovascular disease and to examine whether vaccine strategies aimed at reducing HPV infection at high risk for cancer prevention could also help reduce cardiovascular disease. "

From 2011 to 2016, 63,411 Korean women aged 30 and over without cardiovascular disease joined the study. Their average age was 40 years and their average BMI was 22 years old. Just over 7% of women were infected with high-risk HPV.

All participants underwent a standard Pap test with DNA testing of 13 high-risk HPV strains, as part of a comprehensive medical review of the large Samsung Kangbuk Health Study in Seoul and Suwon, South Korea. South. Participants also gave their informed consent to participate in the insurance review and badessment service once a year or once every two years for approximately four years. Insurance Review & Assessment Service is a vast database of health care costs, including those related to cardiovascular disease.

Several limitations may have affected the results of the study, including the possibility that HPV status may have changed during the study, as infections may disappear on their own. In addition, the study did not determine the duration of HPV infections and more than a third of participants lacked information about high-risk HPV.