Serum lipids in fathers and sons at middle age: the study of sons to men born in 1913.

摘要

OBJECTIVE: To relate lipid levels in middle-aged men to that of their fathers at 50 years of age measured 30 years earlier. DESIGN AND SUBJECTS: In 1963, 855 men born in 1913 took part in a cardiovascular risk factor survey when they were at 50 years of age. In 1993, 475 sons to these men, aged 44-56, were invited to another examination; 263 of these men were examined (response rate: 56%) and compared with their 217 fathers when they were examined at 50 years of age in 1963. In the 1993 survey, 798 men aged 50, were also examined, from a general population sample of men born in 1943 (response rate: 55%). SETTING: City of Goteborg, Sweden. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Serum lipids in sons as a function of lipids in their fathers. RESULTS: Compared with the men born in 1913, both sons and men born in 1943 had lower mean serum cholesterol, but higher body mass index (BMI) and serum triglycerides. There was a significant relation between serum cholesterol in sons and their fathers (r = 0.25; P < 0.0001). Amongstsons to fathers in the highest cholesterol quartile (>6.9 mmol x L(-1)), 37% had serum cholesterol above 6.5 mmol x L(-1), compared with 16% amongst sons to fathers in the lowest quartile (<5.7 mmol x L(-1)) [adjusted odds ratio 3.73 (1.52-9.12)]. Sons to fathers with the highest serum cholesterol levels had slightly lower BMI; otherwise there was no relation between serum cholesterol in the father and any other lifestyle or biological risk factor in the sons. Serum triglyceride concentration in the father was unrelated to any variable in the son. CONCLUSIONS: There was a moderately strong association between serum cholesterol concentration in fathers and sons at middle age. However, secular trends were also important in determining serum cholesterol concentrations in those born at a later period, indicating a major role of environmental factors.