BACKGROUND:~Increasingly, researchers understand that endothelial dysfunction and increased vascular stiffness contribute to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The Framingham Heart Study (FHS) has been examining vascular function in about 3600 middle-aged and elderly participants of the FHS Offspring and minority OMNI cohorts.~DESIGN NARRATIVE:~The study characterizes vascular function by performing noninvasive studies of endothelial function with brachial ultrasound flow-mediated dilation, and of vascular stiffness with arterial tonometry, in 3850 adult offspring of the FHS Offspring and OMNI cohorts. The total of over 7000 vascular examinations in an extensively studied multi-generational community-based cohort provides the opportunity to characterize the environmental and genetic determinants, and the prognosis of altered vascular function. The study hypotheses are: vascular function is determined by both environmental and genetic factors; endothelial function and vascular stiffness phenotypes are associated with each other: and vascular dysfunction predisposes to the development of hypertension (HTN) and cardiovascular disease.
To investigate the role of endothelial dysfunction and increased vascular stiffness as contributors to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease.