The American journal of medicine
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The purpose of this research is to investigate the association between consumption of chocolate and measures of adiposity in a large, representative sample of US adults. ⋯ In this representative sample of US adults, chocolate consumption was associated with lower markers of adiposity. Further research using a longitudinal or experimental design is needed to establish the direction of causation.
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Electrocardiography (ECG) is poorly sensitive, but highly specific for the diagnosis of left ventricular hypertrophy. However, previous studies documenting this were small and lacked patient diversity. Furthermore, little is known about the impact of patient characteristics on the sensitivity and specificity of ECG for left ventricular hypertrophy. To address this issue, the present study was conducted to ascertain the sensitivity and specificity of ECG for left ventricular hypertrophy in a large, diverse patient population. ⋯ This is the first study to confirm the sensitivity and specificity of ECG for left ventricular hypertrophy in a large, diverse patient population with significant minority representation. Furthermore, although these statistical measures are influenced by patient characteristics, such differences are likely not clinically significant.