American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 66, 845-852, Copyright © 1997 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc

ORIGINAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS

Age relations of cardiovascular risk factors in a traditional Melanesian society: the Kitava Study

S Lindeberg, E Berntorp, P Nilsson-Ehle, A Terent and B Vessby
Department of Community Health Sciences, Lund University, Sweden. staffan.lindeberg@dalby.lu.se

This study examined cross-sectional age relations of blood pressure, anthropometric indexes, serum lipids, and hemostatic variables in 203 subsistence horticulturists aged 20-86 y in Kitava, Trobriand Islands, Papua New Guinea. The population is characterized by extreme leanness (despite food abundance), low blood pressure, low plasma plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 activity, and rarity of cardiovascular disease. Tubers, fruit, fish, and coconut are dietary staples whereas dairy products, refined fat and sugar, cereals, and alcohol are absent and salt intake is low. Although diastolic blood pressure was not associated with age in Kitavans, systolic blood pressure increased linearly after 50 y of age in both sexes. Body mass index decreased with age in both sexes. Serum total cholesterol, triacylglycerol, low- density-lipoprotein cholesterol, and apolipoprotein B increased in males between 20 and 50 y of age, whereas high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol and apolipoprotein A-I decreased. There were no significant differences in these indexes with age in the few females studied. A slight linear age-related increase of lipoprotein(a) was present in males. Plasma fibrinogen, factor VII clotting activity, factor VIII clotting activity, and von Willebrand factor antigen increased with age in both sexes but plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 activity did not. The modest or absent relations between the indexes measured and age are apparently important explanations of the virtual nonexistence of stroke and ischemic heart disease in Kitava.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K. R. Viel, D. K. Machiah, D. M. Warren, M. Khachidze, A. Buil, K. Fernstrom, J. C. Souto, J. M. Peralta, T. Smith, J. Blangero, et al. A sequence variation scan of the coagulation factor VIII (FVIII) structural gene and associations with plasma FVIII activity levels Blood, May 1, 2007; 109(9): 3713 - 3724. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. Arikan and S. Sen Endothelial Damage and Hemostatic Markers in Patients with Uncomplicated Mild-to-Moderate Hypertension and Relationship with Risk Factors Clinical and Applied Thrombosis/Hemostasis, April 1, 2005; 11(2): 147 - 159. [Abstract] [PDF]

				A. Sebastian, L. A Frassetto, D. E Sellmeyer, R. L Merriam, and R C. Morris Jr Estimation of the net acid load of the diet of ancestral preagricultural Homo sapiens and their hominid ancestors Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, December 1, 2002; 76(6): 1308 - 1316. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]