Heart to Heart

Project period: 2016 - 2023

Russia has one of the world's highest rates of cardiovascular disease mortality, in working age more than seven times higher than in neighbouring Norway. The high rate of premature mortality puts a substantial burden on Russian health care, economy, and families.

The Heart to Heart project was set up to acquire new knowledge about the large health differences by comparisons between the seventh Tromsø Study survey  (2015-2016) in Tromsø, Norway, and the Know Your Heart study (2015-2018) in Arkangelsk and Novosibirsk, Russia (part of the International Project on Cardiovascular Disease in Russia (IPCDR) led from the UK). The core objective of Heart to Heart is to quantify the likely contribution of different cardiovascular abnormalities and associated risk factors in explaining the huge difference in cardiovascular mortality between Norway and Russia. This project is unique in collecting in depth contemporary biomedical data that are designed to be comparable. 

Members

David Leon, (Principal investigator, LSHTM and ISM)
Laila Arnesdatter Hopstock 
Sameline Grimsgaard
Tom Wilsgaard
Olena Iakunchykova, UiO
Anne Elise Eggen
Alexander Kudryavtsev, Arhkangelsk

Publications

1. Kholmatova K, Krettek A, Leon DA, Malyutina S, Cook S, Hopstock LA, Løvsletten O, Kudryavtsev AV. Obesity Prevalence and Associated Socio- Demographic Characteristics and Health Behaviors in Russia and Norway. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022;19:9428.
2. Cook S, Solbu MD, Eggen AE, Iakunchykova O, Averina M, Hopstock LA, Kholmatova K, Kudryavtsev AV, Leon DA, Malyutina S, Ryabikov A, Williamson E, Nitsch D. Comparing prevalence of chronic kidney disease and its risk factors between population-based surveys in Russia and Norway. BMC Nephrol. 2022;23:145.
3. Hopstock LA, Kudryavtsev AV, Malyutina S, Cook S. Hazardous alcohol consumption and problem drinking in Norwegian and Russian women and men: The Tromsø Study 2015-2016 and the Know Your Heart study 2015-2018. Scand J Public Health. 2023;51:986-994.
4. Iakunchykova O, Schirmer H, Leong D, Malyutina S, Ryabikov A, Averina M, Kudryavtsev A, Kornev M, Voronina E, Paramonov A, Wilsgaard T, Leon D. Heavy alcohol drinking and subclinical echocardiographic abnormalities of structure and function. Open Heart. 2021;8:e001457.
5. Cooper R, Shkolnikov VM, Kudryavtsev AV, Malyutina S, Ryabikov A, Hopstock LA, Johansson J, Cook S, Leon DA, Strand BH. Between-study differences in grip strength: a comparison of Norwegian and Russian adults aged 40-69 years. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2021;12:2091-2100.
6. Cook S, Eggen AE, Hopstock LA, Malyutina S, Shapkina M, Kudryavtsev AV, Melbye H, Quint JK. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in Population Studies in Russia and Norway: Comparison of Prevalence, Awareness and Management. Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis. 2021;16:1353-1368.
7. Iakunchykova O, Averina M, Wilsgaard T, Malyutina S, Kudryavtsev AV, Cook S, Wild S, Eggen AE, Hopstock LA, Leon DA. What factors explain the much higher diabetes prevalence in Russia compared with Norway? Major sex differences in the contribution of adiposity. BMJ Open Diabetes Res Care. 2021;9:e002021.
8. Trias-Llimós S, Pennells L, Tverdal A, Kudryavtsev AV, Malyutina S, Hopstock LA, Iakunchykova O, Nikitin Y, Magnus P, Kaptoge S, Di Angelantonio E, Leon DA. Quantifying the contribution of established risk factors to cardiovascular mortality differences between Russia and Norway. Sci Rep. 2020;10:20796.
9. Cook S, Hopstock LA, Eggen AE, Bates K, Iakunchykova O, Kontsevaya A, McKee M, Schirmer H, Voevoda M, Kudryavtsev AV, Malyutina S, Leon DA. Pharmacological management of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors (blood pressure and lipids) following diagnosis of myocardial infarction, stroke and diabetes: comparison between population-based studies in Russia and Norway. BMC Cardiovasc Disord. 2020;20:234.
10. Lakunchykova O, Averina M, Wilsgaard T, Watkins H, Malyutina S, Ragino Y, Keogh RH, Kudryavtsev AV, Govorun V, Cook S, Schirmer H, Eggen AE, Hopstock LA, Leon DA. Why does Russia have such high cardiovascular mortality rates? Comparisons of blood-based biomarkers with Norway implicate non-ischaemic cardiac damage. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2020;74:698-704.
11. Imahori Y, Frost C, Mathiesen EB, Ryabikov A, Kudryavtsev AV, Malyutina S, Kornev M, Hughes AD, Hopstock LA, Leon DA. Effect of adiposity on differences in carotid plaque burden in studies conducted in Norway and Russia: a cross- sectional analysis of two populations at very different risk of cardiovascular mortality. BMJ Open. 2020;10:e036583.
12. Petersen J, Malyutina S, Ryabikov A, Kontsevaya A, Kudryavtsev AV, Eggen AE, McKee M, Cook S, Hopstock LA, Schirmer H, Leon DA. Uncontrolled and apparent treatment resistant hypertension: a cross-sectional study of Russian and Norwegian 40-69 year olds. BMC Cardiovasc Disord. 2020;20:135.
13. Iakunchykova O, Averina M, Kudryavtsev AV, Wilsgaard T, Soloviev A, Schirmer H, Cook S, Leon DA. Evidence for a Direct Harmful Effect of Alcohol on Myocardial Health: A Large Cross-Sectional Study of Consumption Patterns and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Biomarkers From Northwest Russia, 2015 to 2017. J Am Heart Assoc. 2020;9:e014491.
14. Cook S, Malyutina S, Kudryavtsev AV, Averina M, Bobrova N, Boytsov S, Brage S, Clark TG, Diez Benavente E, Eggen AE, Hopstock LA, Hughes A, Johansen H, Kholmatova K, Kichigina A, Kontsevaya A, Kornev M, Leong D, Magnus P, Mathiesen E, McKee M, Morgan K, Nilssen O, Plakhov I, Quint JK, Rapala A, Ryabikov A, Saburova L, Schirmer H, Shapkina M, Shiekh S, Shkolnikov VM, Stylidis M, Voevoda M, Westgate K, Leon DA. Know Your Heart: Rationale, design and conduct of a cross-sectional study of cardiovascular structure, function and risk factors in 4500 men and women aged 35-69 years from two Russian cities, 2015-18. Wellcome Open Res. 2018;3:67.