Table 3.

Summary statistics for the mean standard deviation of the mean change in fasting lipids and plasma glucose level control.

Blood Measure	Mean SD	Median SD	Details
HDL	0.29	0.24	Mostly below 0.4 except for five between 0.4 and 0.6 when n < 100
LDL	0.74	0.71	No relationship with n
TGs	0.96	0.81	Mostly below 1.5 except for four between 1.5 and 3.5 when n < 50
Cholesterol	1.08	0.83	A narrow band of SDs. One outlier. Four higher SDs, three from small trials (n = 30) and one (n ~ 100)
Fasting glucose	2.43	1.42	Clear threshold effect. One outlier (a possible typographic error). Two high values for two large studies (n ~ = 350). Most SDs below 2.
	3.11	3.49	Where n <30
	1.98	0.95	Where n ≥ 30
HbA1c	1.96	1.60	Clear threshold effect. SDs increase rapidly when n < 30.
	2.70	2.10	Where n < 30
	0.76	0.66	Where n ≥ 30