ABSTRACT
Bangladeshi people, as other South Asians, have high susceptibility to ischemic heart disease (IHD) but population-based data are lacking in Bangladesh. We investigated for IHD burden in a rural population of Bangladesh in 2001. Information was sought on use of medications for IHD and electrocardiogram was done in 447 adults (157 men and 290 women) aged 20 years or older (mean 40 years). Prevalence of IHD defined by presence of pathological Q wave on electrocardiogram or current medication for IHD is 3.4% (95% confidence interval, 1.7% to 5.1%). Prevalence in men (4.6%, 1.3% to 7.9%) was almost twice than in women (2.7%, 0.8% to 4.6%). However, this sex-difference should be cautiously interpreted because of small sample size for men. It appears that IHD is an important problem even in this traditional rural population of Bangladesh.
Subject(s)
Myocardial Ischemia/epidemiology , Rural Population , Adult , Bangladesh/epidemiology , Electrocardiography , Female , Humans , Male , PrevalenceABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Plasma lipids are associated with cardiovascular diseases. Population-based data on plasma lipids are scarce in Bangladesh. METHODS: We investigated plasma lipid levels in a rural population of Bangladesh in 2001. Fasting blood was collected in 447 adults (157 men and 290 women) aged 20-79 years (mean+/-standard deviation 40+/-11 years in men, and 39+/-10 in women). RESULTS: The mean total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, triglycerides and total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratio levels were 182+/-56, 39+/-10, 115+/-53, 139+/-72 mg/dl and 4.8+/-1.8, respectively. The prevalence of abnormal lipid levels were as follows: hypercholesterolemia (total cholesterol > or =240 mg/dl) 16.1%, high LDL cholesterol (> or =160 mg/dl) 20.4%, low HDL cholesterol (<40 mg/dl) 66.4%, hypertriglyceridemia (> or =200 mg/dl) 15.0% and total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratio (>5.5) 32.7%. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of dyslipidemias, especially in the case of low HDL cholesterol, appears to be high even in this rural population of Bangladesh.
