Lipoprotein Status And The Influence Of Age On Lipoprotein Status Among The Essential Hypertensives And Normotensives.

ABSTRACT

Abstracts Background: Hypertension, hyperlipidaemias and ageing are considered major independent risk factors for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Although independent as risk factors, the three entities are closely related and often operate simultaneously to affect the cardiovascular system adversely, resulting eventually damage to various organs most notably heart, kidneys and brain. As the average blood pressure tends to rise progressively with increasing age, the prevalence of hypertension and atherosclerosis increases with ageing. Methodology: The present study comprised of 50 hypertensive and 50 normotensive subjects with Body Mass Index (BMI) less than 30. The controls selected were matched for age, sex, and dietary habits. The subjects with co-existing disorders of hypertension like diabetes, smokers, pregnancy and children are excluded. After overnight fasting of 12 to 14 hours, 5 ml of blood is collected from the subjects and selected biochemical parameters are measured and the data is statistically analysed. Results: The evaluation of lipid profile patterns in above subjects showed hypercholesterolaemia, hypertriglyceridaemia, increased LDL-C, total cholesterol / HDL-C ratio in hypertensives and decreased HDL-C levels in hypertensives when compared with normotensives. The Age influence on lipid profile patterns in above subjects showed significant increase in total cholesterol levels in normotensives with ageing than in hypertensives. There is significant increase in serum triacylglycerol levels in normotensives and hypertensives with ageing. There is also significant increase in total cholesterol / HDL-C ratio in normotensives with ageing than in hypertensives. Conclusion: This shows strong evidence for the increase in the risk for coronary artery disease with ageing in normotensives and once hypertension sets in there is no significant influence of age on associated dyslipidaemias. As age is a non-modifiable risk factor for coronary heart disease special care should be taken for the management of hypertension and abnormal lipid profiles in elderly subjects. The modifiable risk factors should be controlled by life style modification and pharmacological treatment of hypertension and dyslipidaemias.