Abstract
Objective: In this work, we assessed the status and management of blood lipids in a sample of
cardiovascular disease free adult men and women from Greece. We also evaluated the
effect of several socio-demographic, dietary and lifestyle habits on lipid levels.
Methods: The ATTICA Study is a population-based cohort that has randomly enrolled 1128 men
and 1154 women (aged >18 years old), stratified by age–gender, from the greater area
of Athens, during 2001–2002. Adherence to Mediterranean diet was assessed through
a diet score that was based on a validated food-frequency questionnaire. Results: Forty-six percent of men and 40% of women had total serum cholesterol levels >200 mg/dl. Of them, 40% of men and 30% of women were unaware of their condition. Twenty-one
percent of men and 7% of women had HDL–cholesterol levels <35 mg/dl. Twenty-eight percent of men and 13% of women had triglyceride levels >150 mg/dl. Fifteen percent of men and 12% of women had LDL–cholesterol levels >160 mg/dl and 52% of men and 48% of women had LDL >130 mg/dl. Of those who had known blood lipid abnormalities, 36% of men and 33% of women
followed a dietary medication, 31% of men and 20% of women were receiving a pharmaceutical
treatment (mainly statin) and the rest were untreated. Participants who adopted the
Mediterranean diet and received statin, had on average 9% lower total cholesterol
(P=0.04), 19% lower LDL–cholesterol levels (P=0.02) and 32% lower oxidized LDL–cholesterol levels (P<0.001) compared to those who were untreated and adopted a Westernized diet. Conclusions: We could speculate that about 3 million Greek adults had high total cholesterol levels.
Adverse findings were also observed regarding the other investigated blood lipids.
Mediterranean diet could be a complimentary mean to pharmaceutical treatment in reducing
blood lipids.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to AtherosclerosisAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
Gotto Jr AM, Lipid and lipoprotein disorders. In: Pearson TA, Criqui MH, Luepker RV, Oberman A, Wilson M, editors. Primer in preventive cardiology. Dallas, Tex: American Heart Association;1994. p. 107–29.
- Lipoprotein metabolism and its relationship to atherosclerosis.Med. Clin. North Am. 1994; 78: 1-20
- High density lipoprotein cholesterol and mortality.Arteriosclerosis. 1988; 8: 737-741
Executive summary of the third report of the National Cholesterol Educational Program Expert panel on detection, evaluation, and treatment of high blood cholesterol in adults. JAMA 2001;285(19):2486–97.
- Major differences in cardiovascular risk indicators by educational status. Results from a population based screening program.Scand. J. Soc. Med. 1995; 23: 9-16
- The diet and 15-year death rate in the Seven Countries Study.Am. J. Epidemiol. 1986; 124: 903-915
- Cholesterol lowering diets. A review of evidence.Arch. Int. Med. 1995; 155: 17-26
- Diet and overall survival in elderly people.Brit. Med. J. 1995; 311: 1457-1460
- Heart disease risk-factor status and dietary changes in the Cretan population over the past 30 years: the Seven Countries Study.Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 1997; 65: 1882-1886
- Mediterranean diet, traditional risk factors and the rate of cardiovascular complications after myocardial infarction. Final report of the Lyon Diet Heart Study.Circulation. 1999; 99: 779-785
- Status and management of hypertension, in Greece the role of the adoption of Mediterranean diet: the ATTICA Study.J. Hypertens. 2003; 21: 1483-1489
- Adherence to a Mediterranean diet and survival in a Greek population.N. Engl. J. Med. 2003; 348: 2599-2608
- From research to education: the Greek experience.Nutrition. 2000; 16: 528-531
- Mediterranean diet pyramid: a cultural model for healthy eating.Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 1995; 6: 1402S-1406S
- Association of leisure-time physical activity on inflammation markers (C-reactive protein, white-blood cell count, serum amyloid A and fibrinogen), in healthy subjects (from the ATTICA Study).Am. J. Cardiol. 2003; 91: 368-370
Third report on nutrition monitoring in the United States, vol. I. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office; 1995.
Dontas A. Recent trends in cardiovascular disease and risk factors in the Seven Countries Study: Greece. In: Toshima H, Koga Y, Blackburn H, Keys A, editors. Lessons for science from the Seven Countries Study. Tokyo, Japan: Springer-Verlag; 1994.
- Coronary heart disease risk factors in a random sample of Athenian adults. The Athens Study.Am. J. Epidemiol. 1987; 126: 882-892
- Epidemiologic evidence for high-density lipoprotein cholesterol as a risk factor for coronary artery disease.Am. J. Cardiol. 2001; 88: 9N-13N
- Plasma triglyceride levels is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease independent of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level: a meta-analysis of population based prospective studies.J. Cardiovasc. Risk. 1996; 3: 213-219
- Lipoprotein(a) levels and risk for coronary heart disease in men aged 55 years old and younger a prospective study.JAMA. 1996; 276: 544-548
Davidson M. The mobile lipid clinic. Philadelphia, USA: Lippincot Williams and Wilkins Publications; 2002.
- Serum lipoprotein-(a) levels in a Greek population sample without a history of premature myocardial infarction.J. Cardiovasc. Risk. 1996; 3: 277-280
- Blood lipids in Greek adolescents and their relation to diet, obesity, and socioeconomic factors.Ann. Epidemiol. 1995; 5: 286-291
- Economics of lipid lowering in primary prevention: lessons from the West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Study.Am. J. Cardiol. 2001; 87: 19-22
Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
December 23,
2003
Received:
September 11,
2003
Identification
Copyright
© 2004 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
