Association between plasma viscosity and all-cause mortality: results fromthe MONICA-Augsburg Cohort Study 1984-92

Several studies have reported a strong association between various markers of the acute-phase response and death from cardiovascular diseases and all- cause mortality. inflammation at a low level of intensity may be a common p henomenon associated with the majority of causes of death owing to chronic diseases. We sought to investigate the association of plasma viscosity with all-cause mortality in a cohort of apparently healthy men, The study popul ation consisted of 964 men aged 45-64 years at entry, randomly selected fro m the general population and taking part in the first MONICA-Augsburg surve y 1984-85, The main outcome measure was all-cause mortality. During 8 years of follow-up, there were 81 deaths (37 cardiovascular deaths, 23 deaths fr om cancer and 21 deaths from other causes). There was a strong positive and statistically significant age-adjusted relationship between plasma viscosi ty and all-cause mortality. The relative risk of death for a one standard d eviation increase in plasma viscosity (0.070 mPa/s) was 1.45 [95% confidenc e interval (CI) 1.19-1.76]. After further adjusting for smoking, total chol esterol, body mass index, blood pressure and education, a relative risk of 1.41 (95% CI 1.14-1.74) resulted. Other risk variables had only negligible confounding effects. The relative risk of the median of the top quintile of the plasma viscosity distribution compared with the median of the bottom q uintile, computed from the adjusted model, was 2.68 (95% CI 1.63-4.42). The se findings suggest that plasma viscosity may have considerable potential t o predict death from all causes in middle-aged men.