Rural–urban differences in the prevalence of chronic diseases in the adult population of northeast China are examined. The Jilin Provincial Chronic Disease Survey used personal interviews and physical measures to research the presence of a range of chronic diseases among a large sample of rural and urban provincial residents aged 18 to 79 years (N = 21 435). Logistic regression analyses were used. After adjusting for age and gender, rural residents had higher prevalence of hypertension, chronic ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, chronic low back pain, arthritis, chronic gastroenteritis/peptic ulcer, chronic cholecystitis/gallstones, and chronic lower respiratory disease. Low education, low income, and smoking increased the risk of chronic diseases in rural areas. Reducing rural–urban differences in chronic disease presents a formidable public health challenge for China. The solution requires focusing attention on issues endemic to rural areas such as poverty, lack of chronic disease knowledge, and the inequality in access to primary care.

Background: There is evidence that body mass index (BMI) is closely related to hyperlipidemia. This study aimed to estimate the cross-sectional relationship between Body Mass Index (BMI) and hyperlipidemia. Methods: We recruited 21,435 subjects (aged 18–79 years and residing in Jilin province, China) using the multistage stratified cluster random sampling method. Subjects were interviewed with a standardized questionnaire and physically examined. We analyzed the cross-sectional relationship between BMI and hyperlipidemia. Results: The prevalence of hyperlipidemia was 51.09% (52.04% in male and 50.21% in female). The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 31.89% and 6.23%, respectively. Our study showed that underweight (OR = 0.499, 95% CI: 0.426–0.585), overweight (OR = 2.587, 95% CI: 2.428–2.756), and obesity (OR = 3.614, 95% CI: 3.183–4.104) were significantly associated with hyperlipidemia (p < 0.001) in the age- and sex-adjusted logistic regression. After further adjusting for age, gender, region, district, ethnicity, education, marital status, main occupation, monthly family income per capita, smoking, drinking, exercise, central obesity, waist and hip, underweight (OR = 0.729, 95% CI: 0.616–0.864), overweight (OR = 1.651, 95% CI: 1.520–1.793), and obesity (OR = 1.714, 95% CI: 1.457–2.017) were independently associated with hyperlipidemia (p < 0.001). The restricted cubic spline model illustrated a nonlinear dose-response relationship between levels of BMI and the prevalence of hyperlipidemia (P_nonlinearity < 0.001). Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that the continuous variance of BMI was significantly associated with the prevalence of hyperlipidemia.

Background: Prehypertension is a category between normotension and hypertension that is becoming increasingly common in China. However, limited data are available on the prevalence and correlates of prehypertension in northeastern China. Methods: A cross-sectional study using stratified, clustered multistage, and random sampling methods was performed on 17,584 participants. Results: The prevalence of prehypertension and hypertension was 36.0% and 30.8% in northeastern China, respectively. As age increased, the prevalence of prehypertension in males declined (p-trend < 0.001), in parallel to an increase in the prevalence of hypertension (p-trend < 0.001). The prevalence of hypertension for females increased as age increased (p-trend < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed that age, gender, location, drinking, Body Mass Index (BMI), abdominal obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, and hypercholesterolemia correlated with prehypertension and hypertension (p-trend < 0.05). Conclusions: This study revealed a high prevalence of prehypertension and hypertension in an adult population of northeastern China and some correlates of prehypertension and hypertension.

Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is one of the leading causes of death in the world with a projected global 82 million DALYs by 2020. Genetic and environmental factors contribute to CHD development. Here, the authors investigate the association between CHD risk and three Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) in the AdipoQ gene (rs3774261, rs1063537 and rs2082940); and the interaction of this association with environmental factors, in Northeast Han Chinese population. Using a case–control study design, 1514 participants (754 cases and 760 controls) were investigated. Three variants in the AdipoQ gene (rs3774261, rs1063537 and rs2082940) were selected and genotyped. The online SNPstats program and SPSS 21.0 software were used for data analyses. The authors found that the rs3774261G allele is associated with the risk of CHD but that the rs2082940T allele protects against CHD. No significant association was found between rs1063537 and CHD risk. The study also found significant interactions between triglyceride levels and the SNPs studied (P < 0.0001 for rs3774261, P = 0.014 for rs1063537, and P = 0.031 for rs2082940). Variations in AdipoQ gene can protect against CHD (as with rs2082940T) or associated with CHD risk (as with rs3774261G) in Northeast Han Chinese – findings that will help shed light on the reported conflicting roles of AdipoQ in cardiovascular diseases. Serum triglycerides levels also interact in the AdipoQ – CHD association, thus further highlighting the roles environmental factors play in the genetic aspect of diseases.

Human brucellosis incidence in China was divided into 3 stages, high incidence (1950-1960s), decline (1970-1980s) and re-emergence (1990-2000s). Human brucellosis has been reported in all the 32 provinces, of which Inner Mongolia has the highest prevalence, accounting for over 40% of the cases in China. To investigate the etiology alteration of human brucellosis in Inner Mongolia, the species, biovars and genotypes of 60 Brucella isolates from this province were analyzed.

Many factors affect menopausal age, and early or late onset of menopause may be associated with many chronic health problems. However, limited data are available regarding this phenomenon in the Northeast China population. For this study, 2011 elderly women were selected as a sample from participants in a cross-sectional survey performed using stratified, clustered multistage, and random sampling methods. Early menopause was more prevalent in subjects born from 1943 to 1947 (OR = 1.708, 95% CI = 1.205, 2.420) and 1933 to 1937 (OR = 2.445, 95% CI: 1.525, 3.921) and in physical laborers (OR = 1.413, 95% CI = 1.021, 1.957). Women with less than nine years of education (OR = 0.515, 95% CI: 0.327, 0.812) and who were current smokers (OR = 0.577, 95% CI: 0.347, 0.959) were less likely to have late menopause. BMIs between 25 and 30 (OR = 1.565, 95% CI: 1.152, 2.125) and greater than 30 (OR = 2.440, 95% CI: 1.482, 4.016) were associated with later menopausal age. Late menopause was positively associated with diabetes (OR = 1.611, 95% CI: 1.142, 2.274) but protective against chronic gastroenteritis/peptic ulcers (OR = 0.533, 95% CI: 0.333, 0.855). Results showed that (1) Being born in an earlier year, having a lower education, and engaging in physical labor were associated with an earlier menopausal age, while a higher BMI was associated with a later menopausal age; and that (2) menopausal age was associated with diabetes and gastroenteritis in elderly women living in Northeast China.