The effect of demographic factors on serum lipids in diabetics of Trinidad and Tobago. Possible association with ischaemic heart disease.

This study was undertaken in order to investigate the effect of race, sex, weight, activity level and residential area on serum lipoprotein patterns, and to determine how this could possibly relate to the incidence of ischaemic heart disease (IHD). Seven hundred (700) diabetics attending outpatient clinics at Sangre-Grande and Port-of-Spain hospitals were screened. There were 132 males and 249 females of African descent; 99 males and 163 females of East Indian extract, and 19 males and 38 females of other ethnic origins. The average age of the population studied was 50 years (+/- 15). The results obtained from this study indicate that diabetes mellitus is apparently more common in women that in men, particularly in those women who have borne children, and the incidence rises markedly after menopause. East Indians have higher triglyceride (TG), very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), but lower high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) concentrations than their counterparts of African origin. TG, LDL-C and total serum cholesterol (TC) concentrations are highest in overweight-obese patients while HDL-C concentrations are highest in the lower weight division. The domestic working class, as well as those who were in retirement, have higher TG, LDL-C and TC than members of other occupational status. The fractions mainly affected by a residential area are TG, HDL-C and LDL-C. Moreover, diabetes mellitus and its consequent impact on lipoprotein homeostasis imposes a greater predilection to IHD, especially among members of the East Indian community.