Cholesterol is out of control at the global level
Cholesterol is out of control. That is the conclusion arrived a team of researchers evaluated a decade of studies on the diagnosis and treatment of high cholesterol levels, in eight countries-England, Scotland, Germany, Japan, Jordan, Mexico, Thailand and United States-to find that most people with high cholesterol do not have access to treatment.
“The percentage of people with elevated cholesterol who receive effective treatment is still small and middle-income countries high. Many of those affected are unaware of their disease,” concluded the researchers who have published the results of the study in the newsletter of the World Health Organization (WHO).
The percentage of people with undiagnosed high cholesterol reaches 78% in Thailand, for example, while the percentage of patients with treatment but reaches its peak in Japan: 53%. As for the percentage of patients diagnosed, treated and control who will hit the disease ranges from 4% in Germany, and 53% in Mexico.
Above normal range, cholesterol is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, which as mentioned in the WHO study because about 18 million deaths per year. “Untreated Hypercholesterolemia represents a missed opportunity to the global epidemic of chronic diseases,” lamented the authors of the study.
Local figures
Some of the results of the study published by WHO were compared with local data, such as Carmela from the study, which evaluated the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in several cities in Latin America. According to this work, for example, 81% of the locals was measured at least once their blood cholesterol levels.
“While this was the best percentage of the region, in cities such as Mexico, Bogotá and Santiago de Chile only 50% had cholesterol measured, this leaves almost 20% that never in his life was a study of cholesterol “he told La Nacion Dr. Carlos Boissonnet, Cemic cardiologist and coordinator of epidemiology at the InterAmerican Heart Foundation, an institution that carried out the Carmela.
In terms of data that can be compared to the new study, Carmela found that 42% of the locals with high cholesterol had this diagnosis, and that only 10% had controlled with medication.
“Argentina has a high prevalence of high cholesterol, which means an uncontrolled cardiovascular risk,” said Boissonnet. This implies a summation of cardiovascular events that impact people in the health system and productivity, and avoidable .