They confirm the prevalence of fat to the arteries in more than 70% of the population of Lleida with low cardiovascular risk

71.4% of middle-aged people from 45 to 70 years of age in Lleida with a low or medium cardiovascular risk present atheromatosis in the arteries, i.e. fatty plaques. Of these, 20% have generalised atheromatous disease, i.e. more than 3 atheroma plaques. This has been confirmed by the research group of the project 'El Bus de la Salut'. This finding reaffirms the assumptions about the prevalence of subclinical, undiagnosed diseases in the population with common risk factors such as hidden kidney disease or diabetes.

The study, which was recently published in the Spanish Journal of Cardiology, analysed 8,330 asymptomatic people who visited the 'Bus de la Salut', women aged between 50 and 70 and men aged between 45 and 65 with at least one risk factor and no previous history of kidney or cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

"This research confirms our initial hypothesis about the prevalence of atheromatosis in the arteries of the population of Lleida. The early diagnosis of this pathology allows for prior action to avoid future diseases or cardiovascular episodes" explained the first author of the article, the researcher from the Renal and Vascular Translational group at the Lleida Institute for Biomedical Research (IRBLleida) and professor at the University of Lleida (UdL), Marcelino Bermúdez. In 2019, 'El Bus de la Salut' began the second phase of the project, which consists of reviewing the 8,330 people included in the project in order to study its evolution.

The research has been carried out in collaboration with research staff from the Translational Research Groups on Respiratory Medicine, Obesity, Diabetis and Metabolism (ODIM) and Clinical Neurosciences at IRBLleida, as well as the departments of Respiratory Medicine, Endocrinology and Nutrition and the Stroke Unit at Arnau de Vilanova University Hospital, the Department of Experimental Medicine at the University of Lleida and the Cappont Primary Care Centre in Lleida, the Research Support Unit Lleida, Jordi Gol and Gurina University Institute for Primary Health Care Research Foundation (IDIAPJGol), the Department of Endocrinology and Nutrition at the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau and the Sant Pau Institute for Biomedical Research (IIB Sant Pau) in Barcelona, the Centre for Networked Biomedical Research on Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Diseases (CIBERDEM) and the Renal Research Network (RedInRen-ISCIII).

The 'Bus de la Salut' is a research project funded by the Lleida Provincial Council and led by the Jaume Arnó Renal Foundation, in conjunction with the Ministry of Health of the Government of Catalonia, Primary Care of the Catalan Health Institute and the Scientific and Technical Service Unit for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Atherothrombotic Diseases (UDETMA) of the Lleida Institute for Biomedical Research (IRBLleida), which was launched in January 2015 for the early diagnosis of cardiovascular and renal diseases.

Research article:

Bermúdez-López M, Martínez-Alonso M, Castro-Boqué E, Betriu À, Cambray S, Farràs C, Barbé F, Pamplona R, Lecube A, Mauricio D, Purroy F, Valdivielso JM, Fernández E; ILERVAS project collaborators. Subclinical atheromatosis localization and burden in a low-to-moderate cardiovascular risk population: the ILERVAS study. Rev Esp Cardiol (Engl Ed). 2020 Nov 5:S1885-5857(20)30424-2. English, Spanish. doi: 10.1016/j.rec.2020.09.015. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33162389.