Effect of Smoking on Serum Lipid Levels: A Hospital-based Study

Abstract

Aim: To study the effect of smoking on the levels of serum cho­ lesterol, serum triglycerides, HDL­C and LDL­C in men between the age group of 20 and 30 years. Materials and methods: The study recruited 50 smokers and 50 controls. Controls were age, BMI and dietary habits matched nonsmokers. The variables compared between the two groups were total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL­C, HDL­C. dyslipidemia with relation to the severity of smoking was studied in smoker group. Results: The present study showed statistically significant differences in all variables in two groups (p < 0.001). Smokers as compared to nonsmokers had higher total cholesterol (189.14 ± 19.888 vs 159.22 ± 23.221 mg/dl), triglycerides (149.98 ± 32.068 vs 116.86 ± 19.937 mg/dl) and LDL­C (121.14 ± 18.212 vs 93.28 ± 23.726 mg/dl). While the mean HDL­C was lower in smokers as compared to nonsmokers (38.02 ± 4.515 vs 42.56 ± 3.215 mg/dl). Conclusion: The prevalence of dyslipidemia in both smokers as well as nonsmokers according to the NCEP ATP III guide­ lines was 40% in smokers with just 18% in that of nonsmokers group. The study also showed a linear increase in the values of total cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL­cholesterol with the severity of smoking which was statistically significant. While HDL­C levels linearly decreased when progressing through pack years. Abbreviations: BMI: Body mass index; HDL­C: High­density lipoprotein­cholesterol; LDL­C: Low­density lipoprotein­ cholesterol; NCEP ATP III: National Cholesterol Education Program, Adult treatment panel III; VLDL­C: Very low density lipoprotein­cholesterol; FFA: Free fatty acids.