Prospective Studies Collaboration (PSC)
1,000,000+ individuals
At present, the precise relationships of blood total cholesterol (and low-density and high-density lipoproteins), blood pressure, obesity and alcohol to cardiovascular and other causes of death are ill-defined. Even where these relationships have been extensively studied, as with blood pressure and CHD and stroke, the manner in which these relationships vary with age and sex remain imprecisely estimated.
To help rectify this, CTSU is coordinating the PSC meta-analysis [22-24] of individual-person data from all prospective observational studies in which blood cholesterol and blood pressure were recorded at baseline, and cause-specific mortality was sought during follow-up. Investigators from around the world have collaborated to combine their data from 61 existing prospective studies involving a total of one million people from Europe, North America, Australia, Israel, China and Japan. During 12.7 million person-years of follow-up there were 120,000 deaths involving 56 000 vascular deaths (12 000 stroke, 34 000 ischaemic heart disease [IHD], 10 000 other vascular) and 66 000 other deaths.
Meta-analyses, with appropriate correction for "regression dilution" bias using methods developed by CTSU [22,72], of the age- and sex-specific relevance of blood pressure to vascular causes of death have now been completed [88]. A PowerPoint presentation of the results is available. Meta-analyses of the relationships of obesity to ischaemic heart disease, and of blood total cholesterol (and low-density and high-density lipoproteins) to cardiovascular and other causes of death are ongoing.
Powerpoint slides: view, download
Press release: FURTHER EVIDENCE FOR BENEFITS OF LOWER BLOOD PRESSURE IN MIDDLE AND OLD AGE (13 December 2002)
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