Mortality, cardiovascular risk factors, and diet in China, Finland, and the United States.

Mortality, cardiovascular risk factors, and diet were compared in Tianjin province, People's Republic of China; in North Karelia Province, Finland; and in the United States as a whole. People in Tianjin received 7 percent of their energy intake from saturated fats, whereas people in the United States received 13 percent and those in North Karelia received 20. The mean blood cholesterol levels for men were 158 milligrams per deciliter (mg per dl) for Tianjin, 216 mg per dl for the United States, and 241 mg per dl for North Karelia. The smoking prevalence among men was highest in Tianjin (66 percent), followed by the United States (42 percent) and Finland (36 percent). The differences among mortality rates for the three locales were less pronounced among women than among men. Age-standardized total mortality for women was highest for Tianjin and lowest in North Karelia. The reverse was true for men. Age-standardized total mortality for men was lowest in Tianjin and highest in North Karelia. Age-standardized ischemic heart disease mortality for men was lowest in Tianjin (99 per 100,000) and highest in North Karelia (730 per 100,000). For women, the corresponding figures were 83 per 100,000 in Tianjin and 164 per 100,000 in North Karelia. Although salt intake was higher in Tianjin than in North Karelia, the blood pressure was on average lower in persons from Tianjin than in those from North Karelia. The stroke mortality rate in Tianjin, however, was much higher than in either Finland or the United States. The strong discrepancy in stroke mortality relative to prevalence of hypertension and salt intake raises the issue of the etiology of stroke in Tianjin. Recently it has been reported that hemorrhagic stroke may be more common among people whose blood cholesterol level is very low and blood pressure level high. This joint condition may be relatively common in Tianjin and calls for longitudinal and case-control studies to clarify the relationships among these factors in Tianjin.