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A decrease in cardiovascular risk factors in healthy 40-year-old Swedish men between 1980-1983 and 1991-1992
P Tornvall1, P Båvenholm, M L Hellénius
1Atherosclerosis Research Unit, King Gustaf V Research Institute, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Insights
Middle-aged men in Stockholm showed improved cardiovascular risk factors over time. Key improvements included lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose, indicating a healthier population in 1991-1992 compared to 1980-1983.
Area of Science:
- Epidemiology
- Public Health
- Cardiovascular Medicine
Background:
- Comparison of cardiovascular risk factors in urban middle-aged healthy men from two distinct time periods: 1980-1983 and 1991-1992.
- Utilized control groups from a myocardial infarction study for robust data collection.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare cardiovascular risk factor profiles between two cohorts of healthy middle-aged men in Stockholm.
- To identify changes in risk factors over an approximately ten-year period.
Main Methods:
- Random selection of subjects from the Stockholm Metropolitan Area population register.
- Collection of data including weight, height, smoking habits, blood pressure, and blood samples.
- Analysis of blood and lipoprotein lipid levels, glucose concentrations (fasting and oral glucose tolerance test), and fibrinogen levels.
Main Results:
- The 1991-1992 sample exhibited significantly lower systolic blood pressure, total blood cholesterol, fasting blood glucose, and fibrinogen levels compared to the 1980-1983 sample.
- Decreased total blood cholesterol in the later sample was attributed to reductions in both low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.
- A trend towards reduced smoking prevalence was observed in the 1991-1992 cohort, with no significant differences in body mass index, diastolic blood pressure, oral glucose tolerance, or total triglycerides.
Conclusions:
- Cardiovascular risk factors in urban middle-aged men in Stockholm showed a favorable trend between the early 1980s and early 1990s.
- Improvements in blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose levels suggest a potential public health impact on cardiovascular disease risk.
- While smoking prevalence showed a tendency to decrease, further interventions may be needed to address remaining risk factors.
Background:
Cardiovascular risk factors were compared between two samples of urban middle-aged healthy men investigated in 1980-1983 (n = 106) and 1991-1992 (n = 118), respectively.
Methods:
All subjects, who served as controls in an ongoing study on mechanisms behind myocardial infarction, were randomly selected from a register that contains all the inhabitants (1.65 million) in the Stockholm Metropolitan Area. The study programme included recordings of weight, height, smoking habits, blood pressure and blood sampling. Blood and lipoprotein lipid levels, glucose concentrations before and during an oral glucose tolerance test and fibrinogen levels were determined.
Results:
The 1991-1992 sample had lower systolic blood pressure and lower concentrations of total blood cholesterol, fasting blood glucose and fibrinogen than the 1980-1983 sample. The lower total blood cholesterol level in the 1991-1992 sample was due to a decrease in low- and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations. In addition, a tendency was seen towards a decrease in prevalence of smoking in the latter sample. No differences were noted in body mass index, diastolic blood pressure, oral glucose tolerance or total triglycerides between the two samples.