Analysis of the relationship between total cholesterol, age, body mass index among males and females in the WHO MONICA Project.

Objective: To explore the relationship between hypercholesterolaemia, age and BMI among females and males.

Design: Population-based cross-sectional survey.

Subjects: The data came from the initial surveys of the WHO MONICA Project.

[Decrease in cardiovascular disease mortality in the Czech Republic from 1984 to 1993 and its possible causes].

Background: The objective of the investigation was to evaluate the ten-year development of the cardiovascular mortality rate in two population groups in the age bracket from 25 to 64 years, i.e. in subjects living in six districts which participated in the international WHO project MONICA and in the population of the whole Czech Republic.

[Is the recent decrease in cholesterolemia in the Czech Republic convincing evidence?].

Background: The objective of the study was to evaluate the 8-year trend of serum cholesterol levels in six districts of the Czech Republic, to assess whether the reduction of mean values of total cholesterol recorded during the period between 1985 and 1992 was convincing and to discuss possible causes and consequences of this development.

Methods And Results: Three cross-sectional surveys of risk factors were implemented in independent random 1% samples of the population aged 25-64 years. In 1985 1256 men (respondence rate 81.

[Standardization of the methods of lipid determination according to WHO in the regional project of prevention of cardiovascular diseases in Friuli-Venezia Giulia].

Background: The recognition of dyslipidemias as a major modifiable risk factor for atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease underlines the need to obtain precise and accurate assay results of plasma lipids. Today the use of automatic laboratory methods and of internal quality control favours the precision of the results but does not guarantee accuracy. The efficiency of a laboratory can be ensured by a standardization programme, systematically monitoring precision and accuracy by means of independent internal and external quality control, international reference standards (e.

The effect of body fat distribution on cardiovascular risk factors in the population of the Czech Republic.

A study of cardiovascular risk factors including anthropometry was performed as part of the MONICA project in 1988 in the population of six districts of the Czech Republic. In addition to probands' weight and height, the circumferences of waist and hips were measured to calculate the index of body fat distribution given as WHR (wast/hip ratio). In the age group of 25-64 years, WHR was significantly higher in men (0.

[Small doses of the resin Colestid in the treatment of hyperlipoproteinemia].

To a group of 24 subjects with hypercholesterolaemia (hyperlipoproteinaemia type II) for a period of three months the non-absorbable resin Colestid was administered in order to reduce levels of atherogenic lipids and lipoproteins. The Colestid doses were graded from 5 g in the first month to 10-15 g during the third month. Reduction of cholesterol levels and the LDL fraction was significant already during the first month of treatment.

Blood thiocyanate levels and self-reported smoking habits compared in two large cardiovascular population studies.

In two representative population surveys (n1 = 1712, n2 = 3757, age-range: 25-64 years) from six towns in Northern Badenia (FRG) self-reported smoking habits and blood thiocyanate levels were compared. In Survey 1 the smoking prevalence was 44.1% in males and 32.

Cholesterolaemia in school-age children and hypercholesterolaemia aggregation in the family.

The distribution of cholesterol values was established in a group of 2,000 Prague children aged 11-12 years. Of these, 100 children with cholesterol values exceeding the 95th percentile (HYPER), and 100 children with values between the 5th and the 10th percentiles (HYPO) were selected for follow-up. In addition to a thorough clinical and laboratory examination in children and parents, three-day food consumption was registered in children.

Cardiovascular risk factors in the Czech population.

In 1985 and 1988 as part of the WHO's MONICA project two surveys of cardiovascular risk factors were conducted in the population aged 25 to 64 years and resident in the six districts of the Czech Republic collaborating in MONICA. Over a period of three years, the prevalence of smoking decreased from 46% to 41.8% (p less than 0.

International study on the comparability of Apo A-1 and Apo B methods.

Apo A-1 and Apo B levels have become increasingly important as a mean of assessing risk and susceptibility to cardiovascular diseases. These proteins are measured routinely in numerous clinical and research laboratories due primarily to the ability to mechanise the immunological assay method and to the ready availability of commercially produced antisera and standards which are often sold in kit form. However, if these variables are to be used to assess the clinical risk of disease reliably, the test methods should have a low degree of imprecision and inaccuracy, to reduce false positive and negative results.

[The development of cholesterolemia in the Czech population 1985-1988].

The authors followed up the development of serum cholesterol levels in the population aged 25-64 years in six districts of the CR. These districts collaborate since 1984 in the international WHO programme, MONICA. The mean total cholesterol levels increased during 1985-1988 in men from 6.

[The importance of C-peptide determination in the treatment and prognosis of type II diabetes].

The concentration of C peptide which is an indicator of the secretory capacity of the beta-cells of the pancreas was assessed in 109 patients with type II diabetes, hospitalized on account of prolonged difficulties as regards compensation. The values on fasting, the maximal values after stimulation following an experimental meal and increments were greater than in age- and weight-matched controls. In diabetic patients some highly significant relationships were revealed between the C peptide concentration on fasting and indicators of the risk of ischaemic heart disease [IHD].

[The effect of elevated blood glucose levels and body weight on the metabolic profile in type 2 diabetes after long-term therapy].

Based on an analysis of data obtained in a group of 145 men and women with type 2 diabetes perssiting for 10.1 +/- 6.6 years who were hospitalized on account of unsatisfactory compensation of diabetes, the authors provided evidence that the fasting blood sugar level is associated with a reduced response of C peptide to an alimentary stimulus, while the excessive weight of the patients has a bearing on the elevated concentration of C peptide on fasting and causes their insulin resistance.

[Metabolic characteristics of patients with chronic renal failure in long-term diet therapy and substitution with keto analogs of essential amino acids].

12 patients suffering from chronic renal failure did receive for 12 to 22 months a special protein-poor diet containing 20 g of high-class proteins and essential amino acids (4.8 g/d). During this period the serum levels of albumin, transferrin, immunoglobulins, hemoglobin and ferritin did remain unchanged, whereas the levels of C3 was reduced significantly.

International quality assurance schemes for cholesterol.

Lipid disorders rank high among the risk factors known to be associated with development of cardiovascular diseases which constitute a great socio-economic problem in many countries. Blood lipid lipoprotein and apolipoprotein measurements belong in all types of medical services to the most important ones not only because of their diagnostic but also of predictive value. Especially the measurement of blood cholesterol concentration is used in different studies and population screenings as an aid in establishing the degree of the risk of the development of cardiovascular disease.

Methods of total cholesterol measurement in the baseline survey of the WHO MONICA Project.

In the WHO MONICA Project (Monitoring of Trends and Determinants of Cardiovascular Disease) total cholesterol was measured in representative samples from 51 study populations in 26 countries. The biochemical measurements were done locally by the collaborating centres' laboratories. Differences in measurement procedures among the populations were found in the following factors: fasting status, posture of the subject, tourniquet use, use of serum or plasma, storage conditions, and the analytical method itself.

[Metabolic and ultrastructural changes in the myocardium during heart arrest in patients undergoing surgery for ischemic heart disease].

The authors give an account of metabolic changes in the ultrastructure of the myocardium which develop during cardioplegic arrest of the heart muscle by cold during aortocoronary reconstruction operations. Using the technique of arteriovenous differences before myocardial ischemia and after its termination, the assessed differences in arterial blood and blood from the sinus coronarius as regards the blood sugar level, lactate, pyruvate, potassium, phosphorus, unsaturated fatty acids and triglycerides. The results revealed a marked disorder of the carbohydrate and ion metabolism and severe impairment of the ultrastructure of the heart muscle during cardiac arrest.

[HLA antigens in type II diabetics].

The study examined the relationship between class I HLA antigens and type II diabetes with regard to insulin secretion and hyperlipoproteinemia. Out of 28 HLA antigens of A, B and C loci, 46 type II diabetics had statistically more significant HLA Cw1 - 15.9% as compared with 6.

[Hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinism, atherosclerosis].

The paper deals with a group of 117 patients with clearly defined clinical signs of atherosclerosis following myocardial infarction appearing in middle age, analyzes relationship between indicators of saccharide metabolism and cardiovascular morbidity within a ten-year period, and discusses its potential cause. Fasting levels taken at 120 minutes after the administration of glucose and the sum of the fasting level and three stimulated levels of blood sugar, or insulin (IRI), were compared with 54 controls as well as within the group of patients. Compared with the control group, the patients had glycemia levels elevated.

[Levels of HDL cholesterol and the HDL2 and HDL3 subfractions in newly detected type 2 diabetes].

In a group of 40 newly detected middle-aged diabetics the authors recorded reduced HDL cholesterol levels and elevated triglyceride and total cholesterol levels. After compensation of diabetes the cholesterol and triglyceride levels became normal, the HDL cholesterol levels remained, however, low. By comparison of the sub-fractions of HDL cholesterol in diabetics with the control group it was revealed that in the diabetic group the HDL2 cholesterol levels were significantly reduced.

[Long-term administration of a low-protein diet with keto-analogs of essential amino acids and the metabolic status of patients with chronic kidney failure].

To 12 patients with chronic renal failure (CHRI) for 12-22 months a diet containing 20 g high quality protein supplemented by keto analogues of essential amino acids (KA)--4.8 g/day--was administered. During the investigation period no significant change of the albumin, prealbumin or transferrin level was recorded, nor of Whitehead's quotient, immunoglobulin levels and haemoglobin concentration, serum iron and its binding capacity.

Serum lipids and apolipoproteins in families of postinfarction men.

The study of relatives of postinfarction patients was designed to assess the familial associations of lipids (total cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol), and of apolipoproteins A and B. Examination of 493 individuals from 106 families showed only some familial associations of serum lipids between mothers and offspring and among siblings, but similar associations in apolipoproteins among all groups of direct relatives (i.e.