Serum total cholesterol and systolic blood pressure as risk factors for mortality from ischemic heart disease among elderly men and women.

Serum total cholesterol (TC) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) were investigated as risk factors for mortality from ischemic heart disease among 272 elderly men and women during 17 years of follow-up. For men, TC was not significantly associated with mortality from ischemic heart disease. Among women, a significant positive association was found (p-trend = 0.03 when adjusted for age, body mass index, SBP, alcohol consumption, smoking, and the prevalence of myocardial infarction, angina pectoris and diabetes mellitus). Among women a significant positive association was also observed for SBP after adjustment for all potential confounders (p-trend = 0.05). Among men, the adjusted association with SBP was not statistically significant. The results suggest that TC and SBP are stronger independent risk factors for mortality from ischemic heart disease among elderly women than among elderly men. These differences between genders may be due to selective mortality among middle-aged men and physiological changes in women during menopause.