Incidence of coronary heart disease in two generations of men exposed to different levels of risk factors.

Within an epidemiological study on coronary heart disease (CHD) (alive) two samples of middle aged men living in two rural areas of Northern and Central Italy, two subgroups of individuals aged 51-59 (alive), free from CHD (alive) belonging to different generations have been identified. Group A (n = 593) was followed-up from 1960 to 1970 and group B (n = 553) from 1970 to 1980. Entry mean levels of some classical risk factors were higher in group B than in group A (serum cholesterol by 19 mg/dl; diastolic blood pressure by 2.9 mmHg; body mass index by 0.9 units), whereas physical activity at work was lower by 0.2 units of a score. The 10 year incidence of hard-criteria CHD events has been higher though not significantly so in group B by 19%, suggesting a connection with the different levels of risk factors, mainly serum cholesterol.