International Cooperative Study on the Relationship between Dietary Factors and Blood Pressure: a Preliminary Report from the Cardiovascular Diseases and Alimentary Comparison (Cardiac) Study

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Abstract
To investigate the epidemiological relationship of dietary factors to blood pressure (BP) and major cardiovascular diseases, we carried out the international cooperative Cardiovascular Diseases and Alimentary Comparison (CARDIAC) Study, which so far involves 48 centers in 20 countries as of August 1991. From each population, 100 men and 100 women aged 50–54 years were randomly selected for BP measurement, 24-h urine collection, blood tests, and medical interview. Various biological markers of diets from urine and blood were analyzed centrally in the Izumo CARDIAC center. Cross center analysis using simple linear regression revealed strong significant correlations of body mass index (BMI) to systolic BP (SBP; p 0.01) and diastolic BP(DBP; p 0.001) in men. 24-h urinary sodium (Na) excretion in men also showed significant correlations with SBP (p 0.05) and DBP p 0.05) even after controling for the effect of BMI (SBP; p 0.05, DBP; p 0.05). Within center analysis using multiple linear regression implied that BMI and Na strongly adversely affect BP, whereas magnesium may have beneficial influence on BP. Multicolinearities among 24h urinary sodium, calcium, and urea nitrogen were noted in men.