Ischemic Heart Disease Not Associated with COPD

Researchers out of Spain have determined that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is not an independent risk factor for ischemic heart disease. That is according to a recent study published in International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Desiring to determine the risk that COPD poses for developing ischemic heart disease and whether this association has a greater prevalence than classical cardiovascular risk factors, researchers conducted from Hospital Universitario de Guadalajara and Hospital Gregorio Marañón in Madrid a case-control cross-sectional study.

Over the course of the study, researchers examined hospital patients with ischemic heart disease in a stable phase against control hospital patients. Study participants were primarily male with an average age of 65. There were no significant differences by weight, body mass index, pack-years, leukocytes or homocysteine. All patients underwent post-bronchodilator (PBD) spirometry, a standardized questionnaire and blood analysis.

“The most relevant finding of our study is that COPD…was not associated with ischemic heart disease,” wrote the researchers. “Although patients with ischemic heart disease had significantly lower lung function than controls, they also had more often classical cardiovascular risk factors. The classical cardiovascular risk factors were associated with an increase in CVD disease, but a decrease in lung function was not.”

As a result of these findings, researchers do not believe that COPD is associated with ischemic heart disease at the crude level or after adjustment. However, they noted that the greater prevalence of classical cardiovascular risk factors in COPD patients could explain its higher occurrence in these patients.

Click here to access “Lack of association of ischemic heart disease with COPD when taking into account classical cardiovascular risk factors” in the International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.