No abstract

BACKGROUND Cardiovascular diseases are now the most common cause of death worldwide. Most of the risk factors for coronary artery disease were similar for both men and women, but some are unique to women. The present study was carried out to identify the presence of risk factors of CAD in a group of working women. MATERIALS AND METHODSA descriptive study was carried out in which distribution of serum lipids and other risk factors of CAD in 200 females of different age groups ranging from 20 to 60 years were assessed. The statistical analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA test and correlation study. RESULTSThe mean values for lipids are total cholesterol -184.88 ± 30.8, triglycerides -100.57 ± 38.42, LDL cholesterol -114.79 ± 32.64, HDL cholesterol -49.95 ± 10.5 and total cholesterol/HDL ratio -3.88. Comparison of the parameters in different age group shows the risk category is more in group 4, which include women in age group 46-60 yrs. CONCLUSIONThe analysis reveals that the level of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides are higher in older age groups while HDL cholesterol levels are decreasing as age advances and that the women in postmenopausal age group has a more atherogenic lipid profile than premenopausal women. Those with other risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus and obesity have more atherogenic lipid profile. KEYWORDS BACKGROUNDCardiovascular disease is a major health problem in many countries. It is the leading cause of mortality in developed countries. Mortality from Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) begins later in women than in men occurring more often in postmenopausal women predominantly in their sixties and older. (1) Studies have shown a high prevalence of CAD in both urban and rural population of India. This increase in CAD rates is primarily due to the change in lifestyle, mostly the dietary changes.