Blood lipid concentrations and risk of myocardial infarction

In western countries, individuals with plasma lipid concentrations above a set threshold value are judged to be at risk of coronary heart disease. How ever, In Algeria, people tend to have lower lipid concentrations than those in the developed world, and might, therefore, be excluded from preventive strategies and denied treatment. We did a study In Algeria In which we Inve stigated the plasma lipid profiles of 67 Individuals who had had a myocardi al Infarction, and 70 controls. We compared our results with those of two o ther similar studies done in France and Ireland. An Increase In concentrati on of total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol, and a decrease in HDL choleste rol, was associated with raised risk of myocardial Infarction In our study, but lipid concentrations rarely reached the recommended threshold values. However, cholesterol ratios (total/HDL, LDL/HDL) provided consistent and co mparable estimates of cardiovascular risk across the three populations. Our results raise the question of whether threshold recommendations for cardio vascular risk prevention, In populations with low concentration of plasma l ipids, should be made.