A 25-year follow-up of Finnish men demonstrated that historical regional differences in serum cholesterol had leveled off, while regional differences in blood pressure had reversed.
A 25-year follow-up survey of the Finnish men examined in the Seven Countries Study and now 65-84 years old was carried out in the East and the South-West of Finland in 1984. The follow-up examinations were carried out as in the previous surveys. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures were now significantly lower in the East than in the South-West of Finland. Serum total cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol were on the same level in both areas. The East/South-West difference in serum cholesterol, observed in previous studies, had levelled off and that in the blood pressure level had even reversed among the study cohorts. The mean fasting serum glucose was higher in the East than in the South-West of Finland. The mean serum calcium level was the same in both areas.
Nissinen et al. (1986) studied this question.