Trevisan M, Jossa F, Farinaro E, Krogh V, Panico S, Giumetti D, Mancini M
Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, State University, Buffalo, NY 14214.
Am J Epidemiol. 1992 Mar 15;135(6):632-7. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a116342.
The longitudinal association between a number of coronary heart disease risk factors and the experience of a natural disaster (earthquake) was analyzed in a group of workers participating in a longitudinal epidemiologic investigation. The 5-year follow-up examination was interrupted by a major earthquake, and examinations were resumed 2 weeks after the quake. Participants screened after the quake had, on average, higher heart rates, serum cholesterol, and triglycerides than participants examined before the quake; these differences were independent from the coronary heart disease risk factor values measured 5 years previously during the baseline examination. The data collected during the 12-year examination indicated that the observed short-term increase in serum lipids and heart rate was not present long-term (7 years after the quake). These longitudinal data indicate that exposure to a natural disaster can be associated with short-term increases in heart rate, serum cholesterol, and triglycerides but that there is no apparent long-term effect on these coronary heart disease risk factors.
