Relationship between somatotype and some risk factors for ischemic heart disease

The study included 635 practically healthy male subjects aged 20-60 years employed in the Plovdiv Region. Using the Heath-Carter method we differentiated among them the following somatotypes: endomorphic (135), mesomorphic (157), ectomorphic (26) and subjects not matching any somatotype and lying outside the typological diagram (317). The analysis of the relationship between the somatotypes and some risk factors for ischemic heart disease (IHD) (cholesterol, arterial blood pressure, body mass, and body mass index) revealed the following peculiarities: the subjects lying outside the typological diagram showed the greatest predisposition for developing IHD followed by the endomorphic and mesomorphic groups. The risk for IHD in the ectomorphic group was negligible. Arterial hypertension was found in 48% of the subjects having the type lying outside the typological diagram, 31% in the endomorphic and mesomorphic groups. None of the ectomorphic subjects had elevated arterial pressure. Increased risk due to high cholesterol levels was established in the subjects outside the diagram-56.6%, while in the remaining groups it was 46%. The mean levels of triglycerides and low density lipoproteins had critical values in the subjects outside the typological diagram while the high density lipoprotein levels were the most elevated in the subjects of ectomorphic type.