Comparative study of cholesterol and fibrinogen as risk factors for ischemic heart disease in cigarette smokers

ABSTRACT

Serum cholesterol and fibrinogen were measured in 80 men, 20 of them were non-smokers and had no history of ischemic heart disease and 60 were chronic heavy smokers and divided into 3 equal groups, 20 men had no ischemic heart disease, 20 had history of angina pectoris and 20 had established myocardial infarction. There were highly significant elevations of both cholesterol and fibrinogen concentrations in smokers than in non smokers and significant elevation of both of them in smokers with ischemic heart disease than in smokers without ischemic heart disease. In myocardial infarction, the level was significantly higher than in angina pectoris. When the association of cholesterol and fibrinogen elevations with IHD was compared, both of them were found to be correlated with fibrinogen than with cholesterol. On conclusion, fibrinogen is a better indicator of ischemic heart disease than cholesterol and it should replace the later as a screening test of ischemic heart disease. Patients with hyperfibrinogenemia should be encourage to stop smoking because up- till now it is the only effective method to decrease serum fibrinogen