Lipids, apoprotein B, and associated coronary risk factors in urban and rural older Mexican populations

The objective of this comparative cross-sectional study was to determine th e prevalence of dyslipidemias and examine its association with food intake and metabolic variables in urban and rural elder Mexican populations. Three different communities turban areas of medium and low income and a rural ar ea) were studied. A total of 344 subjects aged 60 years and older and 273 a ged 35 to 59 years were included. The evaluated parameters were personal me dical data, 24-hour diet recall, and fasting plasma lipids, insulin, and gl ucose levels. Older subjects, especially men, living in the rural area had lower cholesterol revels (5.02 +/- 0.97 v 5.6 +/- 1.07 mmol/L; P <.05) and insulin levels (12 +/- 10 v 42 +/- 68 mU/mL) and higher high-density lipopr otein cholesterol concentrations (1.31 +/- 0.36 v 1.07 +/- 0.28 mmol/L) tha n the elders from the urban medium-income group. Possible explanations for these differences are found in the dietary habits of the groups. Rural elde rs had higher amounts of fiber (20 +/- 11 v10 +/- 6 g/d) and carbohydrate ( 70% +/- 0.08% v52% +/- 0.11% of calories) and lower fat (18% +/- 0.07% v 33 % +/- 0.1% of calories) in their diets. In the urban groups, low-density li poprotein hypercholesterolemia was present in 17.8% of adult and 39.1% of e lderly women (P =.00001). In conclusion, environmental factors still play a prominent role in the pathophysiology of the dyslipidemias in the elderly. Copyright (C) 2001 by W.B. Saunders Company.