Current state of and recent trends in serum lipid levels in the general Japanese population. Research Committee on Serum Lipid Level Survey 1990 in Japan.

To determine the recent serum lipid levels in the general Japanese population and trends in their changes over the past 30 years, a nationwide survey of serum lipid levels was conducted in 39 institutes from various districts around Japan. The total number of subjects were 34,815, consisting of 20,279 men and 14,536 women aged 4 through 99 years. All the serum samples were collected and analyzed within one week at the Special Research Laboratory (Tokyo, Japan). In males, the mean serum cholesterol level showed a gradually increase from 170 mg/dl in the 0- to 9-year-old age group to 198 mg/dl in the 50- to 59-year-old age group. There was a slight decrease after age 60 years. In females, the mean cholesterol level gradually rose with age from 173 mg/dl in the 0- to 9-year-old age group to 210 mg/dl in the 60- to 69-year-old age group, and fell to 207 mg/dl after 80 years of age. The mean HDL-cholesterol level in men gradually decreased with age from 60 mg/dl in the 0- to 9-year-old age group to 51 mg/dl in the 30- to 39-year-old age group, remained at this level up to 69 years of age, and then increased to 54 mg/dl for the above 80 years old group. The mean HDL-cholesterol level in women increased from 57 mg/dl in the 0- to 9-year-old age group to 62 mg/dl for the 20- to 29-year-old age group: then gradually decreased with age to 54 mg/dl in the 60- to 79-year-old age group. The mean LDL-cholesterol level in men gradually increased with age from 98 mg/dl in the 0- to 19-year-old age group to 122 mg/dl at 70-79 years of age. The mean LDL-cholesterol level in women was low at 101-103 mg/dl up to 29 years of age, then it increased with age to 135 mg/dl in the 60- to 69-year-old age group. The serum cholesterol levels in 1970 and 1980 were higher than that in 1960, but in 1990 values similar to those in 1960 were observed in both men and women. The present results will become the standard serum lipid level data for the Japanese people, and succeeding 10-year surveys will clarify the trends of lipid levels in this country.