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Health See other Health Articles Title: Arsenic in Drinking Water, Even at Low to Moderate Levels, Ups CVD Mortality Medscape: TIMBER LAKE, SD — Low to moderate levels of arsenic in urine samples from people in rural Native American communities with drinking water containing arsenic were associated with greater risk of fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular events, including stroke, in a prospective study[1]. Risk went up directly with exposure levels, seemingly without plateauing, and was independent of smoking and lipid levels. More is known about increased cardiovascular risk with drinking-water arsenic levels surpassing 100 µg/L, but the prospective Strong Heart Study looked at risk in Native American communities in Arizona, Oklahoma, North Dakota, and South Dakota with far lower concentrations. As noted by the authors of the current analysis, led by Katherine A Moon (Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD), the World Health Organization safety threshold is 10 µg/L. The analysis, published September 24, 2013 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, included 3575 men and women who were aged 45 to 74 years at baseline from 1989 to 1991. Their urinary levels of inorganic and methylated arsenic compounds were measured, and the group was followed for cardiovascular events until the end of 2008. With baseline urinary arsenic levels broken out by quartiles, the risk of death associated with cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, and stroke all went up sharply for concentrations in the highest quartile (>15.7 µg/g of creatinine) vs the lowest quartile (<5.8 µg/g of creatinine. Risk increases were less dramatic for incident CVD, CHD, and stroke. Hazard Ratio (95% CI) for Outcomes, Arsenic Concentration Quartile 4 ( >15.7 µg/g creatinine) vs Quartile 1 (<5.8 µg/g Creatinine) End points HR (95% CI) p CVD mortality 1.65 (1.20–2.27) <0.001 CHD mortality 1.71 (1.19–2.44) <0.001 Stroke mortality 3.03 (1.08–8.50) 0.061 CVD 1.32 (1.09–1.59) 0.002 CHD 1.30 (1.04–1.62) 0.006 Stroke 1.47 (0.97–2.21) 0.032 *Adjusted for age, sex, education, smoking status, body-mass index, and LDL cholesterol The risk elevations were independent of demographics, smoking, body-mass index, and LDL-cholesterol levels, but their significance weakened with further adjustment for hypertension, diabetes, and renal function in this Native American population with prevalent cardiovascular risk factors. Hypertension, diabetes, and renal function, the group proposes, could potentially be involved in the effect of arsenic exposure on cardiovascular risk. The Strong Heart Study analysis was supported by grants from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. The Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
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