Cardiovascular risk factors among children of men with premature myocardial infarction.

The possible association between fasting glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride, blood pressure, and body weight in children and the early occurrence of paternal myocardial infarction (MI) was explored by examination of 91 children of 38 fathers who had experienced MI before they were 50 years old and 86 children of 39 healthy father. The only variables significantly associated with paternal MI were childhood cholesterol (P = .003) and glucose (P = .006). The results are consistent with the hypothesis that elevated childhood cholesterol levels offer a mechanism whereby family history predicts future risk of coronary heart disease.