Status and management of blood lipids in Greek adults and their relation to socio-demographic, lifestyle and dietary factors: the ATTICA Study. Blood lipids distribution in Greece.
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 >200mg/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.
Panagiotakos
Demosthenes B
DB
First Cardiology Clinic, School of Medicine, University of Athens, Athens, Greece. d.b.panagiotakos@usa.net
Pitsavos
Christos
C
Chrysohoou
Christina
C
Skoumas
John
J
Stefanadis
Christodoulos
C
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy; D038441:Diet, Mediterranean; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D006949:Hyperlipidemias / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D000960:Hypolipidemic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011336:Probability; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D000960:Hypolipidemic Agents