Nonfasting Triglycerides and Risk of Myocardial Infarction, Ischemic Heart Disease, and Death in Men and Women

CONTEXT Elevated nonfasting triglycerides indicate the presence of remnant lipoproteins, which may promote atherosclerosis. OBJECTIVE To test the hypothesis that very high levels of nonfasting triglycerides predict myocardial infarction (MI), ischemic heart disease (IHD), and death. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS A prospective cohort study of 7587 women and 6394 men from the general population of Copenhagen, Denmark, aged 20 to 93 years, followed up from baseline (1976-1978) until 2004. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Hazard ratios (HRs) for incident MI, IHD, and total death according to baseline nonfasting triglyceride level categories of 1 to 1.99 mmol/L (88.5-176.1 mg/dL), 2 to 2.99 mmol/L (177.0-264.6 mg/dL), 3 to 3.99 mmol/L (265.5-353.0 mg/dL), 4 to 4.99 mmol/L (354.0-441.6 mg/dL), and 5 mmol/L or more (≥442.5 mg/dL) vs triglyceride levels of less than 1 mmol/L (