Determinants of plasma lipoproteins and coagulation factors in men from Caerphilly, South Wales.

Dietary, social, and constitutional determinants of plasma concentrations of some major risk factors for ischaemic heart disease were investigated in a cross sectional study among 711 men from the general population aged 30-69. For high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) six variables were significantly associated with plasma concentrations, and these variables explained 12.6% of the variance. For low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), total cholesterol (T-C), and triglyceride 8.4%, 7.5%, and 18.5% of the variance was explained by significantly associated variables. Fibrinogen concentrations determined chemically were significantly associated with age, smoking habit, body mass index, alcohol consumption, and intake of cereal fibre (24.2% variance). These data provide some encouragement for the possibility of dietary intervention to influence plasma concentrations of major risk factors for ischaemic heart disease in men.