DIET, LIPIDS AND CARDIOVASCULAR-DISEASE IN WOMEN

While hypercholesterolemia is an important risk factor for coronary heart disease in women, the responses of women and men to low-fat, low-cholesterol diets have not been carefully compared. This report summarizes three studies comparing responses of women and men. First, we evaluated the responses of women and men to public cholesterol screening and enrollment in a nutrition research study. Of the 3401 individuals who presented for initial screening, 56% were women and 44% were men. Of the eligible subjects, women (56%) were less likely than men (66%) to come to a second screening. After the second screening, however, study-eligible women (75%) were slightly more likely than men (67%) to enroll in the study. Next, serum and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) values were compared for 64 women and 99 men in response to an American Heart Association (AHA) diet. Reductions in serum cholesterol (8.8 and 7.3%) and LDL-C (9.4 and 8.8%) were similar in women and men, respectively. Finally, serum lipid responses of 59 women and 87 men to a 12-month clinical trial with an AHA diet and a high-fiber AHA-type diet were compared. Both diets decreased serum cholesterol (10 and 13%) and LDL-C (14 and 18%), respectively, for the combined group of women and men. There were no significant differences between serum lipid responses for women and men. These observations suggest differences between the responses of women and men to screening and enrollment in a research study. However, responses of women and men to cholesterol-reducing diets appear similar. Nutrition intervention effectively decreases serum cholesterol and remains the cornerstone in the management of most women and men with hyperlipidemia.