TABLE 1.
Demographic and clinical data.
| Controls (n = 24) | Cases (n = 28) | |
| Age, years | 66.3 ± 9.9 | 70.8 ± 7.4 |
| Male:Female | 8M:16F | 8M:20F |
| Systolic BP, mmHg | 136 ± 21 | 143 ± 20 |
| Diastolic BP, mmHg | 79 ± 13 | 76 ± 13 |
| Heart rate, min–1 | 74 ± 10 | 71 ± 11 |
| BMI, kg.m–2 | 25.1 ± 4.3 | 26.8 ± 4.5 |
| CHA2DS2-VASc score | 2.1 ± 1.5 | 2.3 ± 1.3 |
| Smokers | 3 | 6 |
| Excess alcohol | 3 | 2 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 1 | 0 |
| Ischaemic heart disease. | 1 | 4 |
| Cardiac failure | 0 | 0 |
| Stroke/TIA | 0 | 1 |
| Dyslipidaemia | 9 | 11 |
| Total medications | 1.8 ± 1.7 | 3.3 ± 2.7* |
| All antihypertensive agents | 9 | 10 |
| β-blockers | 0 | 10* |
| Warfarin | 2 | 1 |
| Aspirin/clopidogrel | 0 | 10* |
Mean values ± SD or numbers within each cohort. CHA2DS2-VASc score calculated from Lip et al. (2010); BMI, basal metabolic index; TIA, transient ischaemic attack; all antihypertensives exclude β-blockers. *p < 0.05 χ2-test.