Prevalence of ischaemic heart disease, arterial hypertension and intermittent claudication, and distribution of risk factors among middle-aged men in Moscow and Berlin.

The initial examinations of prospective epidemiological studies of the same kind performed in random samples of 50-54 years old men from Moscow and Berlin showed the following prevalence rates (each first figure for Moscow, second for Berlin): ischaemic heart disease 14.4/13.6%, arterial hypertension 18.0/19.0%, intermittent claudication 6.9/3.4%, cigarette smoking 46.5/51.4%, overweight 22.9/21.9%, impaired glucose tolerance 36.6/42.5%. Hypercholesterolaemia (24.6/8.1%) was not comparable because different determination methods were used. In both population samples almost a half of IHD and 1/3-1/2 of hypertension cases were newly detected only by the study examinations. More than 80% of the 50-54 years old men showed the presence of one or more risk factors. The following significant relationships between disease groups and risk factors were found: for IHD, with hypertension, impaired glucose tolerance, and hypercholesterolaemia (Moscow only); for hypertension, with overweight, impaired glucose tolerance, and hypercholesterolaemia (Moscow only); for intermittent claudication, with cigarette smoking, impaired glucose tolerance, and hypercholesterolaemia (Moscow only). These comparative studies demonstrate the benefit and need of further common research and efforts for prevention and control of cardiovascular diseases.