Gender difference of association between LDL cholesterol concentrations and mortality from coronary heart disease amongst Japanese: the Ibaraki Prefectural Health Study.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to examine whether LDL cholesterol raises the risk of coronary heart disease in a dose-response fashion in a population with low LDL-cholesterol levels.


METHODS
Population-based prospective cohort study in Japan.


METHODS
A total of 30,802 men and 60,417 women, aged 40 to 79 years with no history of stroke or coronary heart disease, completed a baseline risk factor survey in 1993. Systematic mortality surveillance was performed through 2003 and 539 coronary heart disease deaths were identified.


RESULTS
The mean values for LDL-cholesterol were 110.5 mg dL(-1) (2.86 mmol L(-1)) for men and 123.9 mg dL(-1) (3.20 mmol L(-1)) for women. Men with LDL-cholesterol > or =140 mg dL(-1) (> or =3.62 mmol L(-1)) had two-fold higher age-adjusted risk of mortality from coronary heart disease than did those with LDL-cholesterol <80 mg dL(-1) (<2.06 mmol L(-1)), whereas no such association for women was found. The multivariable hazard ratio for the highest versus lowest categories of LDL-cholesterol was 2.06 (95 percent confidence interval: 1.34 to 3.17) for men and 1.16 (0.64 to 2.12) for women.


CONCLUSIONS
Higher concentrations of LDL-cholesterol were associated with an increased risk of mortality from coronary heart disease for men, but not for women, in a low cholesterol population.
Public Health, Department of Social and Environmental Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Shuita-shi, Osaka, Japan.
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H
Noda
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Iso
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Irie
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Sairenchi
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Ohtaka
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Ohta
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors
D008078:Cholesterol, LDL