Incidence of ischaemic heart disease in relation to blood cholesterol level, and the influence of non-medicamentous preventive measures on the cholesterol level in an open population.

Results are presented of a prospective study of the male population of Kaunas, aged 45-59 years, who were examined in 1972-1974 within the framework of the Kaunas-Rotterdam Study. Among 2,034 men, who at the first examination were without signs of ischaemic heart disease (IHD), there appeared after 7.4 years 75 cases of IHD. The age-adjusted IHD incidence per 1,000 inhabitants amounted in the 1st quartile of blood cholesterol (CS) distribution to 12.1, in the IInd quartile to 23.8, in the IIIrd quartile to 40.3 and in the IVth quartile to 69.6. Analysis of the findings carried out by using the multiple logistic function showed that the Cs level ranked first among all investigated IHD risk factors. The influence of nonmedicamentous preventive measures on the CS level was studied within the framework of the programme of assessing the effectiveness of multifactorial IHD prevention in subjects with a CS level of 6.72 mM/l and more, who at the initial examination were without signs of IHD. After two years of the operation of preventive measures, the CS level decreased by 11.6% vs. the initial value.