Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol 12, Issue 4 433-437, Copyright © 1993 by American College of Nutrition
Diet, lipids and cardiovascular disease in women
J. W. Anderson
Metabolic Research Group, VA Medical Center, Lexington, KY 40511.
While hypercholesterolemia is an important risk factor for coronary heart
disease in women, the responses of women and men to low-fat,
low-cholesterol diets have not been carefully compared. This report
summarizes three studies comparing responses of women and men. First, we
evaluated the responses of women and men to public cholesterol screening
and enrollment in a nutrition research study. Of the 3401 individuals who
presented for initial screening, 56% were women and 44% were men. Of the
eligible subjects, women (56%) were less likely than men (66%) to come to a
second screening. After the second screening, however, study-eligible women
(75%) were slightly more likely than men (67%) to enroll in the study.
Next, serum and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) values were
compared for 64 women and 99 men in response to an American Heart
Association (AHA) diet. Reductions in serum cholesterol (8.8 and 7.3%) and
LDL-C (9.4 and 8.8%) were similar in women and men, respectively. Finally,
serum lipid responses of 59 women and 87 men to a 12-month clinical trial
with an AHA diet and a high-fiber AHA-type diet were compared. Both diets
decreased serum cholesterol (10 and 13%) and LDL-C (14 and 18%),
respectively, for the combined group of women and men. There were no
significant differences between serum lipid responses for women and men.
These observations suggest differences between the responses of women and
men to screening and enrollment in a research study. However, responses of
women and men to cholesterol-reducing diets appear similar.(ABSTRACT
TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)