Serum lipids, lipoproteins and musculoskeletal disorders among 50- and 60-year-old men. An epidemiologic study.

Several recent reports have indicated a relationship between hyperlipoproteinaemias and migratory polyarthritis and musculoskeletal disorders of unknown etiology. These studies were uncontrolled and the study populations were small. In the study presented here, 787 60-year-old men and 226 50-year-old men--all randomly selected from the general population--were examined by questionnaire regarding the presence of joint symptoms, backache, pain in the legs and consumption of analgetics. Serum lipoprotein phenotype, serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels were determined. No consistent relationship between symptoms or analgetics consumption and serum lipid levels or serum lipoprotein patterns was found. An association between musculoskeletal disorders and and hyperlipoproteinaemias or high serum lipid levels within the range of this study seems unlikely.