Correlations between lipid levels and age, gender, glycemia, obesity, diabetes, and smoking.

A low level of high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL‐C) is an important cardiovascular risk factor. Dietary measures and pharmacological agents are often not sufficient to reach the HDL‐C target level of 40 mg/dl in patients with low baseline HDL‐C. This study assesses the association between lipid levels and age, gender, body mass index (BMI), glycemia, diabetes and smoking and focuses on the parameters influencing HDL‐C. In the town of Lede (Belgium) all patients aged between 45 and 64 years were invited during 1999 for a free of charge health check‐up and blood test. Blood pressure, weight, length and smoking habits were recorded. Serum levels for glycemia and lipoproteins were determined. In total, 629 subjects attended for the check‐up. In a logistic regression analysis age above 50 years was correlated with low HDL‐C (OR = 2.27 CI = 1.10–4.68). Male gender was correlated with low HDL‐C (OR = 3.85 CI = 1.77–8.43) and with high triglycerides (TG) (OR = 1.94 CI = 1.14–3.30). From the level of 90 mg...