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Biomedical subjects

A Woldow

Publications and source records attributed to A Woldow.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Hyperlipidemia and its significance in the aged population.

Starting in childhood, blood lipid levels rise progressively with each ten-year period until age 70, when cholesterol and triglyceride levels begin to stabilize and then decline. By age 80 there is a precipitous drop to approximately the values noted in persons of the 20-30 age group. Data on 195 residents of a geriatric center are included. Despite the lower average lipid levels, 30 per cent of the elderly show some lipid abnormality. There is a definite increase in the risk of death from coronary artery disease in hyperlipidemic persons as compared to those who are normolipidemic, even during the eighth and ninth age decades. Hyperlipidemia appears to be a significant risk in the elderly, as in persons of any age, and should be treated accordingly.

Acute Disease

Lipidemia--a multigeneration predictability study.

This study involved a 1st generation of 194 aged residents at the Philadelphia Geriatric Center plus 2nd and 3rd generations of 357 and 306 offspring, respectively. Serum cholesterol levels (including type of abnormality) and triglyceride levels were determined. The results suggest that hyperlipidemia at all ages is related to a familial genetic problem. The data on each generation, starting even with the 80-year-old parents, could be used to predict lipid abnormalities in each succeeding generations. However, when comparing the 1st generation with the 3rd generation, predictability was lacking, probably because of the inclusion of two sets of spouses and many enviromental factors that altered the situation. In the 2nd generation, 40 per cent of the subjects had an elevated lipid level compared to 30 per cent in the 1st and 3rd generations. The higher concentrations in the 2nd generation probably reflected increased risk factors such as improper diets, smoking, hypertension, obesity and stress at that age level. Hyperlipidemia in the aged apparently is not just a metabolic degenerative abnormality. It should be treated, as in younger people. Data on risk factors such as a high blood lipid level may help not only the aged, but succeeding generations.

Adolescent