About the Authors

Matthias Michal

michal@uni-mainz.de

Affiliation Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany

Jörg Wiltink

Affiliation Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany

Yvonne Kirschner

Affiliations Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany, Department of Medicine II, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany

Philipp S. Wild

Affiliation Department of Medicine II, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany

Thomas Münzel

Affiliation Department of Medicine II, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany

Francisco M. Ojeda

Affiliation Department of General and Interventional Cardiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany

Tanja Zeller

Affiliation Department of General and Interventional Cardiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany

Renate B. Schnabel

Affiliation Department of General and Interventional Cardiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany

Karl Lackner

Affiliation Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany

Maria Blettner

Affiliation Institute of Medical Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany

Isabella Zwiener

Affiliation Institute of Medical Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany

Manfred E. Beutel

Affiliation Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany

Competing Interests

This study was partly supported by the research programs "Wissen schafft Zukunft" and "Schwerpunkt Vaskuläre Prävention" of the Johannes Gutenberg-University of Mainz and its contract with Boehringer Ingelheim and PHILIPS Medical Systems including an unrestricted grant for the Gutenberg Health Study. Prof. MEB received speakers honorary from Pfizer Deutschland GmbH, Shire and Deutschland GmbH. Dr. MM received speakers honorary from UCB Pharma GmbH. Prof. MB receives honorary from Astra Zeneca and Astellas for statistical consulting; Prof. TM received speakers honorary from Boehringer Ingelheim Deutschland Deutschland GmbH & CoKg, Servier Deutschland GmbH, Actavis Deutschland GmbH, and Berlin Chemie Deutschland. Dr. PSW received research grants from Boehringer Ingelheim Deutschland GmbH & CoKG, Daiichi Sankyo Deutschland GmbH, Bayer HealthCare-Bayer-Vital GmbH, Portavita BV and Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH. Prof. KL received honoraries for consulting from MSD and Abbott Diagnostics and research grants from Diagnostik, Abbott Diagnostics, and Shire. Herewith the authors confirm that the competing interests they have stated do not alter their adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Analyzed the data: MM JW YK PSW TM FMO TZ RBS KL MB IZ MEB. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: MEB TM PSW MB KL. Wrote the paper: MM JW YK RBS MB IZ MEB. Manage the Gutenberg Health Study: MEB TM PSW MB KL. Contributed to and have approved the final manuscript: MM JW YK PSW TM FMO TZ RBS KL MB IZ MEB.