Low cholesterol values are no longer common in China

Tsung O Cheng*

Department of Medicine, George Washington University,Washington, USA

* Correspondence to: Tsung O. Cheng, Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine, George Washington University, 2150 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC 20037, USA. Tel: +1 202 741 2426; Fax: +202 741 2324
E-mail address: tcheng{at}mfa.gwu.edu

Received 23 October 2003; accepted 5 November 2003

In the editorial published in the October 2003 issue, Lewington1stated that‘... lower threshold such as 4mmol/l for total cholesterol... is not uncommon in China...’ This used to be the case several decades ago but unfortunately is no longer true.2

In China the normal plasma cholesterol values were 155mg/dl or 4mmol/l in 1958,3191mg/dl or 4.9mmol/l in 1981,3200mg/dl or 5.2mmol/l in 1997,4and 232mg/dl or 6.0mmol/l in 2003.5This alarming trend of rising ‘normal’ cholesterol values in China is a result of a change in lifestyle and dietary habits.6Is China paying too high a price formodernization?6

References

  1. Lewington S. The importance of cholesterol, blood pressure and smoking for coronary heart disease. Eur Heart J. 2003;24:1703–1704.[Free Full Text]
  2. Cheng TO. The current state of cardiology in China. Int J Cardiolin press..
  3. Cheng TO. The International Textbook of Cardiology. New York: Pergamon Press; 1987. p. 12.
  4. Chen GW, Cheng TO. The Textbook of Modern Cardiology. 2nd edn. China: Human Science & Technology Press; 2002. p. 1546.
  5. Wang X, Fan Z, Huang J et al. Extensive association analysis between polymorphisms of PON gene cluster with coronary heart disease in Chinese Han population. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2003;23:328–334.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  6. Cheng TO. Price of modernization of China. Circulation. 2003;42:773.




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