November 1, 1994Journal of Gerontology
Determinants of Change in Total Cholesterol and HDL-C With Age: The Framingham Study
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Discussion
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Implication
Prospective cohort study observes age- and weight-related shifts in cholesterol levels across adults, highlighting natural lipid declines in older age without medical intervention.
Key Points
- To assess the determinants of longitudinal changes in total cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) across different age groups in an adult population.
- Prospective cohort study of 2,222 men and 2,677 women aged 20–79 years at baseline, evaluated across an 8-year follow-up period.
- Conducted longitudinal analyses stratified into 15-year age groups, excluding individuals who developed cardiovascular disease or cancer during the observation window.
- Adjusted models for baseline age and changes in alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, diuretic use, and oral estrogen therapy.
- Body mass index (BMI) and total cholesterol increased in parallel among younger age brackets but declined in older cohorts, reaching peak values at a later age in women than in men.
- HDL-C levels decreased across all age groups over the 8-year interval, with the largest reductions occurring in elderly participants.
- Decreases in total cholesterol were strongly linked to older age and BMI reduction, whereas HDL-C decline was directly proportional to changes in BMI after multivariable adjustment.
Cite This Study
Wilson et al. (1994) studied this question.