Skip to main content
PMC home page
Public Health Reports logoLink to Public Health Reports
. 1992 Jan-Feb;107(1):92–99.

Serum cholesterol concentrations among Navajo Indians.

J R Sugarman 1, T J Gilbert 1, C A Percy 1, D G Peter 1
PMCID: PMC1403607  PMID: 1738814

Abstract

Navajo Indians have been reported by earlier investigators to have low concentrations of serum lipids and a low prevalence of hyperlipidemia, as well as low rates of ischemic heart disease. However, no data on serum lipid concentrations among Navajos have been reported for more than two decades. The authors conducted a study to determine the distribution of concentrations of serum total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglyceride among persons 25-74 years old living in a representative community on the Navajo Indian reservation. Data are reported for 255 subjects, 105 men and 150 women, ages 25-74 years. The authors compared these data to those for the general population as determined by the second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES II). TC concentrations among Navajo men were similar to those from NHANES II. TC concentrations among younger Navajo women were similar to those for women younger than 55 years from NHANES II, but were significantly lower among older Navajo women. While 27.6 percent of men ages 25-74 years studied in NHANES II had TC concentrations greater than 240 milligrams per deciliter, 33.8 percent of Navajo men had similarly elevated TC. However, the prevalence of serum TC concentrations greater than 240 milligrams per deciliter among Navajo women (17.5 percent) was about half that among women studied in NHANES II (32.9 percent). A similar pattern was found for low density lipoprotein cholesterol.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Full text

PDF
92

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Broudy D. W., May P. A. Demographic and epidemiologic transition among the Navajo Indians. Soc Biol. 1983 Spring;30(1):1–16. doi: 10.1080/19485565.1983.9988511. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Castelli W. P. Epidemiology of coronary heart disease: the Framingham study. Am J Med. 1984 Feb 27;76(2A):4–12. doi: 10.1016/0002-9343(84)90952-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Coulehan J. L., Lerner G., Helzlsouer K., Welty T. K., McLaughlin J. Acute myocardial infarction among Navajo Indians, 1976-83. Am J Public Health. 1986 Apr;76(4):412–414. doi: 10.2105/ajph.76.4.412. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. DeStefano F., Coulehan J. L., Wiant M. K. Blood pressure survey on the Navajo Indian reservation. Am J Epidemiol. 1979 Mar;109(3):335–345. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a112686. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. FULMER H. S., ROBERTS R. W. CORONARY HEART DISEASE AMONG THE NAVAJO INDIANS. Ann Intern Med. 1963 Nov;59:740–764. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-59-5-740. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Friedewald W. T., Levy R. I., Fredrickson D. S. Estimation of the concentration of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in plasma, without use of the preparative ultracentrifuge. Clin Chem. 1972 Jun;18(6):499–502. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. GILBERT J. Absence of coronary thrombosis in Navajo Indians. Calif Med. 1955 Feb;82(2):114–115. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. GILBERT J., LEWIS L. A., PAGE I. H. Plasma lipids and proteins and their relationship to coronary disease among Navajo Indians. Circulation. 1956 May;13(5):675–679. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.13.5.675. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Howard B. V., Davis M. P., Pettitt D. J., Knowler W. C., Bennett P. H. Plasma and lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations in the Pima Indians: distributions differing from those of Caucasians. Circulation. 1983 Oct;68(4):714–724. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.68.4.714. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. KOSITCHEK R. J., WURM M., STRAUS R. Biochemical studies in full-blooded Navajo Indians. II. Lipids and lipoproteins. Circulation. 1961 Feb;23:219–224. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.23.2.219. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Klain M., Coulehan J. L., Arena V. C., Janett R. More frequent diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction among Navajo Indians. Am J Public Health. 1988 Oct;78(10):1351–1352. doi: 10.2105/ajph.78.10.1351. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Koch D. D., Hassemer D. J., Wiebe D. A., Laessig R. H. Testing cholesterol accuracy. Performance of several common laboratory instruments. JAMA. 1988 Nov 4;260(17):2552–2557. doi: 10.1001/jama.260.17.2552. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. LaRosa J. C., Hunninghake D., Bush D., Criqui M. H., Getz G. S., Gotto A. M., Jr, Grundy S. M., Rakita L., Robertson R. M., Weisfeldt M. L. The cholesterol facts. A summary of the evidence relating dietary fats, serum cholesterol, and coronary heart disease. A joint statement by the American Heart Association and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The Task Force on Cholesterol Issues, American Heart Association. Circulation. 1990 May;81(5):1721–1733. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.81.5.1721. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Lee E. T., Anderson P. S., Jr, Bryan J., Bahr C., Coniglione T., Cleves M. Diabetes, parental diabetes, and obesity in Oklahoma Indians. Diabetes Care. 1985 Mar-Apr;8(2):107–113. doi: 10.2337/diacare.8.2.107. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Naito H. K. Reliability of lipid, lipoprotein, and apolipoprotein measurements. Clin Chem. 1988;34(8B):B84–B94. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Sievers M. L., Fisher J. R. Increasing rate of acute myocardial infarction in southwestern American Indians. Ariz Med. 1979 Oct;36(10):739–742. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Sievers M. L. Myocardial infarction among southwestern American Indians. Ann Intern Med. 1967 Oct;67(4):800–807. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-67-4-800. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Sievers M. L. Serum cholesterol levels in Southwestern American Indians. J Chronic Dis. 1968 May;21(2):107–115. doi: 10.1016/0021-9681(68)90099-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Sugarman J. R., Hickey M., Hall T., Gohdes D. The changing epidemiology of diabetes mellitus among Navajo Indians. West J Med. 1990 Aug;153(2):140–145. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Sugarman J. R. Prevalence of diagnosed hypertension among diabetic Navajo Indians. Arch Intern Med. 1990 Feb;150(2):359–362. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Sugarman J. R., White L. L., Gilbert T. J. Evidence for a secular change in obesity, height, and weight among Navajo Indian schoolchildren. Am J Clin Nutr. 1990 Dec;52(6):960–966. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/52.6.960. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Sugarman J., Percy C. Prevalence of diabetes in a Navajo Indian community. Am J Public Health. 1989 Apr;79(4):511–513. doi: 10.2105/ajph.79.4.511. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Szathmary E. J., Holt N. Hyperglycemia in Dogrib Indians of the Northwest Territories, Canada: association with age and a centripetal distribution of body fat. Hum Biol. 1983 May;55(2):493–515. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Public Health Reports are provided here courtesy of SAGE Publications

RESOURCES