Group Differences and Age Trend of Serum Cholesterol

Abstract

Serum cholesterol was studied in 4 groups of males in Oslo. The average values (given in mg/100 ml) in men about 20 were: medical students and blood donors about 155, dentistry students and telegraph office employees about 190.

In men age 40–50 the Oslo average (Berge & Nicolaysen 1963) was 270. In blood donors of the same age it was about 240.

In the telegraph office employees the increment with age from 20 to 40 was linear, and the yearly increment was 4.64 mg/100 ml. In blood donors also the increment with age was steeper than in American groups.

The findings demonstrate the difficulties of obtaining a representative sample of a given community.