TY - JOUR
AU - Elwood, Peter
AB - Coronary Heart Disease Cortisol, Testosterone, and Coronary Heart Disease Prospective Evidence From the Caerphilly Study George Davey Smith, DSc; Yoav Ben-Shlomo, BSc, MBBS, MRCP, FFPHM, PhD; Andrew Beswick, BSc; John Yarnell, MBChB, DPH, MSCM, MD, MFPHM (Ire), FFPHM; Stafford Lightman, MBChB, PhD, FMedSci; Peter Elwood, DSc, MD, FRCP, FFPHM Background—There is a popular belief that chronic stress causes heart disease through psychoneuroendocrine mechanisms. We have examined whether an elevated circulating cortisol-to-testosterone ratio increases the risk of ischemic heart disease. Methods and Results—We undertook a prospective cohort study of 2512 men aged 45 to 59 years between 1979 and 1983 from Caerphilly, South Wales, with a mean follow-up of 16.5 years. Subjects underwent a clinical examination, and morning fasting blood samples were taken for analysis of cortisol levels, testosterone levels, and other cardiovascular risk factors. The ratio of cortisol to testosterone showed weak associations with potential confounding factors but strong positive associations with components of the insulin resistance syndrome (P
0.001). A positive linear trend was seen across quintiles of cortisol:testosterone ratio for incident ischemic heart disease (age-adjusted OR per z score change in ratio 1.22, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.38, P0.003). This was markedly attenuated after adjustment for components of 
TI - Cortisol, Testosterone, and Coronary Heart Disease Prospective Evidence From the Caerphilly Study
JF - Circulation
DO - 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.104.489088
DA - 2005-07-01
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/wolters-kluwer-health/cortisol-testosterone-and-coronary-heart-disease-prospective-evidence-A7pitdnqrd
SP - 332
EP - 340
VL - 112
IS - 3
DP - DeepDyve
ER -