Table 1. Characteristics of the study samples.

Village		Campora	Gioi	Cardile
N° of Individuals		656	852	449
Women %		53.6	54.5	58.3
Age (mean ± SE)		49.0±0.84	49.0±0.78	48.6±0.98
VEGF (pg/ml)
	median	413.5	374.9	355.8
All	95% CI	387.5–445.0	354.0–400.9	337.6–385.3
	Range	20.1–2046.6	34.3–1427.7	25.2–1589.3
	median	427.2	385.4	378.9
Men	95% CI	381.5–480.4	335.3–443.8	332.9–438.1
	Range	43.5–2046.6	42.2–1427.7	26.1–1313.3
	median	403.1	369.8	349.2
Women	95% CI	375.5–443.8	345.5–398.9	318.9–381.9
	Range	20.1–1811.7	34.3–1311.0	25.2–1589.3