Serum lipids and their relation to blood glucose and cardiovascular measurements in a rural population of Jamaican adults

Abstract

Total cholesterol and triglycerides were determined in fasting serum for a population sample of rural Jamaican adults aged 25–64 yr. Cholesterol values were generally lower than in populations in developed countries while triglyceride values were similar to those found in some studies in developed countries and much lower than those in other studies in the same countries. Correlation and covariance analysis showed that persons with above average lipids were heavier for their height, had larger infrascapular skinfold thickness and had higher levels of insulin in serum taken after a fast and 1 hr after an oral challenge of 100 g glucose. Evidence is given that persons responding positively to a standard effort pain questionnaire or having certain ECG changes suggestive of ischaemia cannot be discriminated from persons without these findings by cholesterol or triglycerides. This result is discussed in the light of findings in a longitudinal study of a sample of persons drawn from the same rural area and it is suggested that some of the changes indicative of cardiac ischaemia may have arisen from disease of vessels other than the major extramural arteries.