The word framingham is now synonymous with risk factors for devloping CHD
framingham is a small town near Boston and the study has been goign here since 1948
the main objective was to examine a representative sample of adults for characteristics that might predispose them to CHD and follow them up for 20 yaers to determine which developed the disorder
study poopulation was small iwth more thna 2000 men and 30000 women aged 30-62
anyone with evidence of pre-existing CHD at the first examination was excluded and the remainder were re-examiend every 2 years.
serum cholesterol was measured oneach occasion and LDL and VLDL were measured at the first tw examinations. other measurements performed routinely were blood pressure, body weight, blood glcuose, uric acid and smoking status.
the occurrence of coronary events was based on ECH and enzyme changes
80% were followed up for 14 years plus an additional 8% who died during that time
during the follow up period, 323 men and 169 women developed CHD, the incidence being much greater with serum cholesterol and LDL and VLDL concentrations in the top versus the bottom quartile.
the framingham study establisehd hypercholesterolaemia as a risk factor in its own right, documented the iumportance of hypertension and smoking and demonstrated the multiplicative increase in risk wchi hcocurs when all three coexist
currently the framingham remains the gold standard for risk predictions, but newer approahces which look at race, family history and CRP are going to prove superior