Current cigarette smoking, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and blood cholesterol were independently associated with a higher risk of coronary heart disease death over 5 years.
Cohort (n=18,403)
Do risk factors such as smoking, blood pressure, and cholesterol increase the risk of coronary heart disease death in middle-aged men?
Cigarette smoking, elevated blood pressure, and elevated cholesterol are independent risk factors for coronary heart disease mortality.
A five-year follow-up of 18 403 male British civil servants between the age of 40 and 64, who had been the subject of an earlier clinical survey found 277 deaths from coronary heart-disease (C.H.D.). After adjusting for age, current cigarette smoking, systolic and diastolic blood-pressure, and blood-cholesterol were shown to be related to both the prevalence of one or more indices of cardiac ischaemia and to the risk of cardiac death. Neither blood-glucose two hours after a 50 g load nor weight/height showed any such simple linear association with mortality. Multivariate analysis confirmed that the main risk factors were independently related to cardiac morbidity and mortality. Irrespective of blood-pressure or plasma-cholesterol, current cigarette smokers thus had a higher risk of C.H.D. death than those not smoking cigarettes.
“The Whitehall study started during the peak of the epidemic of heart disease related deaths in the UK in the 1970s. The study afforded a unique opportunity to look at data collected over the course of a lifetime and was a precursor to studies such as the UK Biobank and the China Kadoorie Biobank, which are answering the most pressing health challenges today. The results of the Whitehall study demonstrate that smoking cigarettes, having high blood pressure and cholesterol, and diabetes are still putting people at risk of developing heart disease and premature death today. They provide support for current health policies that recommend stopping smoking, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and lowering levels of blood pressure and cholesterol.”
Reid et al. (1976) conducted a cohort in Coronary heart-disease (n=18,403). Current cigarette smoking, elevated blood pressure, and blood cholesterol vs. Non-smokers and individuals without elevated risk factors was evaluated on Death from coronary heart-disease. Current cigarette smoking, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and blood cholesterol were independently associated with a higher risk of coronary heart disease death over 5 years.