SERUM-LIPIDS AND VITAMIN-A, VITAMIN-C AND VITAMIN-E IN AN ADULT-POPULATION OF CARACAS CITY

Lipid profiles as well as vitamins A, C and E were determined in a sam ple of 90 men and 151 women with ages within 35 and 50 years old. Comp aring the lipid profiles obtained in the study with the limits establi shed by the National Cholesterol Education Program, resulted that a li ttle more than 60% of the group had total cholesterol and LDL choleste rol levels in the desirable range, 20 to 30% had levels in the margina l range while 10 to 15% had levels in the high risk range. This distri bution of the risk is more favorable than that observed in populations with a high risk of heart diseases such us the British or American po pulations, which show a substantially higher segment of the people in the high risk level. When the protective effect of the HDL cholesterol was included in the estimation of the risk by calculating the indexes : Total cholestero/HDL chol., LDL Chol/HDL chol. or Total Chol-HDL cho l. 65 to 80% of the population had values within the normal range and the first of these indexes, indicated that the men had a higher risk t han the women. Integrating both methods of estimating the risk and con sidering that the risk of the individuals in the marginal range define d by the National Cholesterol Education Program is minimal unless they have two additional risk factors, it appears that an important segmen t (20-30%) of the studied population may benefit from programs aiming to reduce other risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, dia betes or overweight. The vitamin levels measured in this study indicat ed that the vast majority of the population had their levels in the sa fe range but an important segment had vitamin C serum levels indicativ e of poor consumption of this vitamin. Since vitamin C is high in frui ts and vegetables we concluded that the studied population had a low c onsumption of these foods. Due to the existing evidence of a protectiv e effect of fruits and vegetables in heart and other chronic diseases it was concluded that institutions such as the one studied here should engage in preventive campaigns emphasizing a reduction of both risk f actors and the consumption of saturated fats. The results of this stud y also indicate that the consumption of fruits and vegetables should b e encouraged.