NEWS
Ideal Cardiovascular Health in the southern cone of Latin America 
Highlights
• Ideal Cardiovascular Health includes seven favourable cardiovascular behaviours and health factors.
• Behaviours include smoking, body mass index, physical activity and diet.
• Health factors include total cholesterol, blood pressure and glycaemia.
• Only one from 5458 participants from Southern Cone of Latin America accomplished all seven criteria.
Abstract
The American Heart Association developed the concept of ‘Ideal Cardiovascular Health’, which is based on the presence of ideal levels across seven health factors. The goal of this study is to assess the prevalence of Ideal Cardiovascular Health in the Southern Cone of Latin America.
Link to original publication: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0033350617304304?via%3Dihub
Association between religiosity and depression varies with age and sex among
adults in South America: Evidence from the CESCAS I study
New publication! – December 2019 
Prior studies have suggested that religiosity mitigates symptoms of depression. However, population-based data in South America are limited. This study determines the prevalence of
religiosity and explores its association with depression in four cities of the Southern cone of
Latin-America. In the CESCAS I study 7524 participants aged between 35 and 74 years old
were recruited between 2011 and 2012 from randomly selected samples in 4 cities (Bariloche and Marcos Paz, Argentina; Temuco, Chile; and Pando-Barros Blancos, Uruguay).
Link to the publication: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226622
How is alcohol consumption associated with cardiovascular risk in the general population?
Uruguay – April 28, 2020 – It is known that excessive alcohol consumption is associated with a considerable burden of disease in the population as it is linked to different types of health risks. On the other hand, there are some hypotheses that suggest a potentially beneficial association between moderate consumption and cardiovascular health.
The present study described the epidemiology of alcohol consumption patterns in the general population and its association with the different strata of cardiovascular risk in the general population of the CESCAS study.
LINK to the newspaper article in Uruguay
Link to the publication of the paper:
https://academic.oup.com/jpubhealth/article-abstract/42/1/107/5288304?redirectedFrom=fulltext
Memorandum of Agreement entered into with Marcos Paz City Hall
Buenos Aires, Argentina. April 4, 2017 – CESCAS entered into a memorandum agreement with Marcos Paz City Hall to acknowledge their intention to continue with epidemiological study CESCAS I, which has been conducted in Marcos Paz since 2009. The purpose of CESCAS I is to assess cardiovascular health in Southern Cone populations (Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay).
After visiting IECS facilities, Mayor Ricardo Curutchet and Secretary of Health Nora Mores highlighted that CESCAS I information is essential for public health decision making and, therefore, to improve the quality of life of Marcos Paz citizens.
IECS joins the PoblAr initiative
Buenos Aires, Argentina. December 30, 2016 – The variability in the response to some pathogens and drugs depends partly on population genetics. In order to conduct in-depth studies and promote precision medicine, CONICET, ANLIS (National Administration of Health Institutes and Laboratories), and three national universities launched PoblAR, a genomic biobank.
Yesterday, IECS led this initiative by moving more than 130 blood, serum, and plasma samples to the ANLIS-Malbrán biocontainment center. These samples had been taken as part of the CESCAS I study, a population-based epidemiological study to assess the incidence of chronic diseases and their risk factors in 7,500 Southern Cone adults.
During the meeting, the audience was addressed by Mr. Adolfo Rubinstein, IECS Managing Director and Head of the CESCAS Department; Mr. Miguel Ángel Laborde, Vicechairman of CONICET; and Mr. Carlos Ubeira from ANLIS. The meeting was also attended by Dr. Fernando Althabe, Dr. Vilma Irazola, and Dr. Andrés Pichón Riviere (all IECS members); Dr. Claudia Perandones and Mariana Berenstein (PoblAr); and officers from Argentina’s Department of Health, CONICET, and ANLIS.
CESCAS took part in the 2nd International Conference on Cardiovascular Epidemiology
Argentina, Buenos Aires. December 21, 2016 – Dr. Adolfo Rubinstein and Dr. Vilma Irazola, the Director and Coordinator of the Southern America Center of Excellence of Cardiovascular Health (CESCAS), respectively, attended the 2nd International Conference on Cardiovascular Epidemiology held in São Paulo’s University Hospital in Brazil. 
The event included presentations about different Latin American population- and cohort-based studies like CESCAS I, Elsa (Brazil), and Crónicas (Peru). After these presentations delegates discussed the main findings and relevant aspects of each of these investigations.
Español
English