Body Build and Serum Lipids in Male Patients Hospitalized for Peptic Ulcer or Myocardial Infarction

Abstract

Two groups of patients have been studied. One consisted of 63 peptic ulcer patients, the other of 73 myocardial infarction patients. All patients in both groups were treated in the Medical Clinic of the Danderyd Hospital during 1965 and were followed up about one year after discharge. The infarction patients had significantly higher mean cholesterol and triglycerides than the ulcer patients (Table I). The difference occurred also between comparable age groups (Table II). The ulcer patients had a significantly higher skeletal quotient than the infarction patients, implying that the former had a longer and more slender skeletal structure. Comparison with the conscripts, earlier described by Hellström (11), showed that in many respects the infarction patients resembled the short and heavily built conscripts, whereas the ulcer patients resembled more the tall and lightly built.