Cholesterol and mortality. 30 years of follow-up from the Framingham study.

From 1951 to 1955 serum cholesterol levels were measured in 1959 men and 2415 women aged between 31 and 65 years who were free of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer. Under age 50 years, cholesterol levels are directly related with 30-year overall and CVD mortality; overall death increases 5% and CVD death 9% for each 10 mg/dL. After age 50 years there is no increased overall mortality with either high or low serum cholesterol levels. There is a direct association between falling cholesterol levels over the first 14 years and mortality over the following 18 years (11% overall and 14% CVD death rate increase per 1 mg/dL per year drop in cholesterol levels). Under age 50 years these data suggest that having a very low cholesterol level improves longevity. After age 50 years the association of mortality with cholesterol values is confounded by people whose cholesterol levels are falling--perhaps due to diseases predisposing to death.

[1]  J. Cutler,et al.  Serum cholesterol levels and cancer mortality in 361,662 men screened for the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial. , 1987, JAMA.

[2]  J. Stamler,et al.  Fifteen year mortality in Coronary Drug Project patients: long-term benefit with niacin. , 1986, Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

[3]  P. Wilson,et al.  Incidence of coronary heart disease and lipoprotein cholesterol levels. The Framingham Study. , 1986, JAMA.

[4]  J. Neaton,et al.  Is relationship between serum cholesterol and risk of premature death from coronary heart disease continuous and graded? Findings in 356,222 primary screenees of the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial (MRFIT). , 1986, JAMA.

[5]  L. Kuller,et al.  SERUM CHOLESTEROL, BLOOD PRESSURE, AND MORTALITY: IMPLICATIONS FROM A COHORT OF 361 662 MEN , 1986, The Lancet.

[6]  U. Goldbourt,et al.  Total and high density lipoprotein cholesterol in the serum and risk of mortality: evidence of a threshold effect. , 1985, British medical journal.

[7]  E. Trell,et al.  Premature death and associated risk factors in urban middle-aged men. , 1984, The American journal of medicine.

[8]  N. Borhani,et al.  Serum cholesterol and cancer in the hypertension detection and follow‐up program , 1983, Cancer.

[9]  A. Dyer.  Circulating cholesterol level and risk of death from cancer in men aged 40 to 69 years. Experience of an international collaborative group. , 1982, JAMA.

[10]  W. Kannel,et al.  THE SEARCH FOR AN OPTIMUM SERUM CHOLESTEROL , 1982, The Lancet.

[11]  M. Feinleib.  On a possible inverse relationship between serum cholesterol and cancer mortality. , 1981, American journal of epidemiology.

[12]  W. Kannel,et al.  Cancer incidence by levels of cholesterol. , 1981, JAMA.

[13]  A. Keys,et al.  Seven countries. A multivariate analysis of death and coronary heart disease. , 1980 .

[14]  W. J. Padgett,et al.  Maximum likelihood estimation of a distribution function with increasing failure rate based on censored observations , 1980 .

[15]  E. Kaplan,et al.  Nonparametric Estimation from Incomplete Observations , 1958 .

[16]  B. Brodie,et al.  A simplified method for the estimation of total cholesterol in serum and demonstration of its specificity. , 1952, The Journal of biological chemistry.

[17]  T. Dawber,et al.  Epidemiological approaches to heart disease: the Framingham Study. , 1951, American journal of public health and the nation's health.