Summary
The aim of the Helsinki Heart Study, a 5-year primary prevention placebo-controlled study involving 4081 dyslipidaemic men (aged 40 to 55 years), was to investigate if increasing high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol plasma levels and decreasing low density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol levels would reduce the incidence of coronary heart disease. Gemfibrozil 600mg twice daily was administered to induce these changes in lipoprotein levels.
Baseline HDL-cholesterol levels in the study group were similar to those in the general population. Data from patients treated with placebo were analysed to investigate the influence of HDL-cholesterol levels on the incidence of coronary heart disease. Using the number of cardiac end-points per 1000 person-years to indicate the risk of coronary heart disease, it was clear that elevated HDL-cholesterol levels reduced the risk of coronary heart disease while the incidence increased at low HDL-cholesterol levels. This relationship was not altered when the effect of HDL-cholesterol levels was analysed jointly with other coronary risk factors (age, smoking or blood pressure). A weaker association was seen between LDL-cholesterol and risk of coronary heart disease, and triglycerides appeared to have no significant effect on the incidence of the disease. The data clearly suggest that HDL-cholesterol is a strong predictor of the incidence of coronary heart disease in the placebo group of the Helsinki Heart Study.
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Frick, M.H., Manninen, V., Huttunen, J.K. et al. HDL-Cholesterol as a Risk Factor in Coronary Heart Disease. Drugs 40 (Suppl 1), 7–12 (1990). https://doi.org/10.2165/00003495-199000401-00004
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.2165/00003495-199000401-00004