Wei YT, et al. – The experts wished to estimate the association between betel nut chewing and arterial stiffness in a Taiwanese population. They observed that both ex– and current betel nut chewing were related to a higher risk of increased arterial stiffness. They suggested that stopping betel nut chewing might thus potentially be valuable to lessen cardiovascular risk, based on the principals of preventive medicine.

Methods

• From October 2006 to August 2009, seven thousand, five hundred forty eligible subjects were enrolled in National Cheng Kung University Hospital.
• History of cerebrovascular events, coronary artery disease, and taking lipid-lowering drugs, antihypertensives, and hypoglycemic agents were the included exclusion criteria.
• Increased arterial stiffness was characterized as brachial–ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) ≥1400 cm/s.
• The subjects were categorized into non-, ex-, and current chewers according to their habit of betel nut use.

Results

• It was observed in the findings that the prevalence of increased arterial stiffness was 32.7, 43.3, and 43.2% in non-, ex- and current chewers, respectively (p = 0.011).
• Multiple logistic regression analysis demonstrated that ex-chewers (odds ratio [OR] 1.69, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.08-2.65) and current chewers (OR 2.29, 95% CI = 1.05–4.99) had elevated risks of increased arterial stiffness after adjustment for co-variables.