Abstract
Blood viscosity, plasma viscosity, haematocrit and fibrinogen were measured in 1260 men and women aged 25–64 years in the West of Scotland and related to cardiovascular ar risk factors. Blood viscosity and haematocrit were higher in men than women; there was no sex difference in plasma viscosity or fibrinogen. In both sexes, blood viscosity increased with smoking, age, blood pressure, body mass index and serum total cholesterol. In general, these correlations were stronger for blood viscosity than for haematocrit, plasma viscosity or fibrinogen. The data are consistent with a role for blood viscosity in cardiovascular disease, and will be related to prevalent and incident disease.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.