Cholesterol, coronary heart disease, and total mortality in middle-aged and elderly men and women in Tecumseh.

Relationships between serum cholesterol and coronary heart disease (CHD) were investigated in Tecumseh men and women who were 45 to 92 years old and initially free of CHD. Recruitment continued through three cycles of examinations over a period of 10 years, beginning in 1959. Follow-up for mortality ended in 1986 to 1987. Age-adjusted relative risks for CHD death for cholesterol levels of 5.2 to 6.2 mmol/L and greater than 6.2 mmol/L, compared with levels less than 5.2 mmol/L for men aged 45 to 64 years, were 1.2 and 1.7; for older men they were 1.0 and 1.8. Comparable relative risks for CHD death by cholesterol level were .7 and 1.4 for 45- to 64-year-old women and .8 and .7 for older women. Coefficients for cholesterol were significant for fatal CHD in men under and those 65 years and older when age, systolic blood pressure, body mass index, cigarette smoking status, and glucose intolerance were controlled in proportional hazards models. Cholesterol was a significant predictor of fatal CHD plus nonfatal myocardial infarction in middle-aged, but not elderly women. Relative risks for total mortality were lowest for middle-aged men and women with cholesterol levels of 5.2 to 6.2 mmol/L and the difference was significant in men.