The epidemiology of hyperlipoproteinemia in a Rumanian general population sample. Study of 7,085 cases.

Using a two stages screening method the prevalence in the general population of hyperlipoproteinemias (HLP), separated in the five types proposed by Fredrickson, Levy and Lees, and adopted by WHO has been studied. The study included 7,085 subjects of both sexes, aged 25-65 years, representing 84,52 % of a population taken at random within a district of Bucarest. HLP was found in 1,013 cases, i.e. 14,29 % of the investigated population. 48.37 % were men and 51.63 % women. The prevalence of HLP was lowest in the first decace of age studied (25-35 years) and highest in the last two decades (45-65 years). Overweight was more frequently encountered in these patients (64.46 %) than in the total population (32.3 %). Of the 1,013 cases with HLP, 42.35 % (6.05 % of the total population) were of type IV, 27.05 % (3.86 % of the total population) of type II-b, 22.80 % (3.26 % of the total population) of type II-a, 4.74 % (0.67 % of the total population) of the type III and 3.06 % (0.43 % of the total population) of the type V. 22.70 % of the HLP patients were considered primary familial HLP, 66.54 % primary non-familial HLP and 10.76 % secondary HLP; IN 109 secondary HLP, the most frequently encountered disease was diabetes mellitus (42.20 %), followed by hypothyroidism (24.77 %), alcoholism (12.84 %), obstructive liver diseases (9.17 %), pancreatitis (5.50 %), nephrotic syndrome (2.75 %) and treatment with estrogens and steroids (2.75 %).