[Serum lipids and vitamin A, C and E concentrations in an adult population of Caracas City].

Lipid profiles as well as vitamins A, C and E were determined in a sample of 90 men and 151 women with ages within 35 and 50 years old. Comparing the lipid profiles obtained in the study with the limits established by the National Cholesterol Education Program, resulted that a little more than 60% of the group had total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels in the desirable range, 20 to 30% had levels in the marginal range while 10 to 15% had levels in the high risk range. This distribution of the risk is more favorable than that observed in populations with a high risk of heart diseases such us the British or American populations, which show a substantially higher segment of the people in the high risk level. When the protective effect of the HDL cholesterol was included in the estimation of the risk by calculating the indexes: Total cholesterol/HDL chol., LDL Chol/HDL chol. or Total Chol-HDL chol. 65 to 80% of the population had values within the normal range and the first of these indexes, indicated that the men had a higher risk than the women. Integrating both methods of estimating the risk and considering that the risk of the individuals in the marginal range defined by the National Cholesterol Education Program is minimal unless they have two additional risk factors, it appears that an important segment (20-30%) of the studied population may benefit from programs aiming to reduce other risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes or overweight. The vitamin levels measured in this study indicated that the vast majority of the population had their levels in the safe range but an important segment had vitamin C serum levels indicative of poor consumption of this vitamin. Since vitamin C is high in fruits and vegetables we concluded that the studied population had a low consumption of these foods. Due to the existing evidence of a protective effect of fruits and vegetables in heart and other chronic diseases it was concluded that institutions such as the one studied here should engage in preventive campaigns emphasizing a reduction of both risk factors and the consumption of saturated fats. The results of this study also indicate that the consumption of fruits and vegetables should be encouraged.