Strategies for reducing coronary heart disease and desirable limits for blood lipid concentrations: guidelines of the British Hyperlipidaemia Association.

Mortality from coronary heart disease has changed appreciably in several countries over the past two decades. Some countries, such as the United States, Finland, Australia, and Israel, have shown dramatic reductions while others, mainly in eastern Europe, have shown the opposite trend. Such shifts in the mortality from this disease over only a short time are partly the result of changes in the prevalence in the community of the three main risk factors: cigarette smoking, high blood lipid concentrations, and hypertension. Decreases in their prevalences have been attributed to the success ofnational policies aimed at the general population to