Award Date

December 2023

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Environmental and Occupational Health

First Committee Member

Lung-Chang Chien

Second Committee Member

Arpita Basu

Third Committee Member

Brian Labus

Fourth Committee Member

Karen Callahan

Fifth Committee Member

Dieu-My Tran

Number of Pages

200

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the United States and is expected to increase with 45% of the population projected to have a CVD-related disease by 2035 (American Heart Association [AHA], 2023). While CVDs are mostly preventable, some populations are at increased risk of CVD. Individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D) are at increased risk of CVD mortality due to higher levels of pericardial adipose tissue (PAT), coronary artery calcification (CAC), and inflammatory markers (IMs). PAT, CAC, and IMs are prognostic indicators to assess subclinical manifestations of CVD and overall cardiovascular health. Prevention strategies for CVD include a healthy diet and increased physical activity, but questions remain regarding dietary patterns individuals should follow and how much and at what intensity individuals should conduct their physical activity. These dietary and physical activity recommendations are largely focused on the general population and designed to avoid the development of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and other chronic diseases. Individuals with T1D are predominately removed from clinical and observational research studies that assess dietary patterns and physical activity measures and their associations with reduced CVD risk or associated prognostic indicators. This dissertation addresses four questions to fill gaps in current research. The first and second research questions assess how dietary pattern adherences are associated with odds of CAC progression and PAT volume, respectively. The dietary patterns include the Mediterranean-Style Dietary Pattern Score (MSDPS), Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), and the Alternative Healthy Eating Index, 2010 (AHEI), which have been thoroughly investigated in the literature for the cardioprotective effects. The final two research questions investigate associations between measures of physical activity and inflammatory markers, C-reactive protein (CRP), fibrinogen, and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1). The measures of physical activity included the assessment of meeting physical activity guidelines and physical activity intensities (moderate, vigorous, and joint (which is the combination of moderate and vigorous activity)) and their associations with the three IMs. These research questions were investigated utilizing data from the on-going Coronary Artery Calcification in Type 1 Diabetes (CACTI) study, which includes 652 T1D participants and 764 control participants with approximately 6 years of follow-up.

Controlled Subject

Diabetes; Cardiovascular system--Diseases; Lifestyles--Health aspects

Disciplines

Biostatistics | Epidemiology | Nutrition

File Format

pdf

File Size

2010 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Available for download on Tuesday, December 15, 2026


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