Background: Hypertension and dyslipidemia are highly prevalent in the elderly. We studied the combined impact of both conditions on cardiovascular disease (CVD) events.
Methods: We studied 4,311 participants aged 65-98 (61.2% female) from the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS), a longitudinal epidemiologic study, with no prior CVD. We evaluated the relation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or non-HDL-cholesterol combined with blood pressure (BP) categories to incident CVD-including coronary heart disease (CHD) (angina, myocardial infarction (MI), angioplasty, coronary bypass surgery, or CHD death), stroke, claudication, and CVD death over 15 years.
Results: CVD incidence (per 1,000 person years) ranged from 38.4 when BP <120/80 mm Hg and LDL-C <100 mg/dl to 94.8 when BP >or=160/100 mm Hg and LDL-C >or=160 mg/dl, and from 28.9 when BP <120/80 mm Hg and HDL >60 mg/dl to 87.1 for a BP >or=160/100 and HDL-C <40 mg/dl. Compared with those with BP <120/80 mm Hg with either LDL-C <100 mg/dl or HDL-C >60 mg/dl, hazard ratios (HRs) for CVD events were 2.1 when BP >or=160/100 mm Hg and LDL-C >or=160 mg/dl and 2.1 when BP >or=160/100 and HDL-C <40 mg/dl (all P < 0.01), with similar results for non-HDL-C. Elevated BP was associated with increased risk across all lipid levels. Increased LDL-C added risk mainly when BP <140/90 mm Hg, but lower HDL-C also predicted CVD in those with higher BP.
Conclusion: Increased BP confers increased risks for CVD in elderly persons across all lipid levels. Although increased LDL-C added risk mainly when BP <140/90 mm Hg, low HDL-C added risk also in those with hypertension. These results document the importance of combined hypertension and dyslipidemia.