The study was based on the Diet, Cancer and Health cohort where
160,725 randomly chosen subjects without a history of cancer, between
50 and 64 years of age and living in the Copenhagen or Aarhus area,
were invited to participate between 1993 and 1997 (Tjonneland et al.,
2007). All in all 57,053 subjects accepted the invitation and were enrolled
into the cohort, and of these 39,863 participants lived in the
Greater Copenhagen. Participation was based on written informed consent.
The studywas conducted in accordancewith the Helsinki Declaration
and approved by the local ethical committees. At enrolment, 30ml
non-fasting blood sample was drawn from each participant and each
participant completed self-administered questionnaires including questions
on disease and lifestyle habits, such as diet, tobacco smoking, alcohol
intake and sport during leisure time. Information on
hypercholesterolemia at enrolment was assessed by questions on
whether the participants had ever been diagnosedwith hypercholesterolemia
and whether they received or had ever received medication for
hypercholesterolemia. Height, weight and waist circumference were
measured by trained personnel according to standardized protocols.
We excluded cohortmembers not living in Greater Copenhagen at baseline,
with cancer before baseline, without cholesterol measurement,
with incomplete address/exposure history, with missing covariates information
and/or who received medication for hypercholesterolemia.