Hemorheology plays an important role in the development of cardiovascular disease. The Micro Channel array Flow Analyzer (MC‐FAN) (Hitachi Haramachi Electronics Co., Ltd., Bentencho, Japan) is currently considered a useful new device to analyze hemorheology. However, the relationships between various lifestyle habits and hemorheology, especially using MC‐FAN, have still not been thoroughly investigated.
The study was undertaken to determine whether there could be some correlations of lifestyle factors to hemorheology by MC‐FAN.
A total of 250 asymptomatic Japanese subjects (male:female = 100:150; mean age = 49.7 y) without any medication were enrolled in the present study. Hemorheology was assessed by the whole blood passage time (WBPT) and was corrected by the saline passage time using MC‐FAN. Subjects' lifestyle factors, such as smoking habits, alcohol habits, and physical activity, were self‐reported.
Partial correlation analysis for WBPT, after controlling for age, gender, hematocrit, white blood cell count, body mass index, blood pressure, blood biochemical measures, and all lifestyle habits, revealed a significant and inverse correlation between alcohol habits of 1–3 go (amount of alcohol intake) and WBPT (r = − 0.191, p = 0.003), in addition to a significant positive correlation between serum low‐density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and WBPT.