Even thirty-year-olds should take care of their cholesterol. If it is only slightly elevated, it seriously increases the risk of a heart attack in the long run, US researchers warn in the journal Circulation.
Lead author of the report, Dr. Ann Marie Navar-Boggan of the Duke Clinical Research Institute says that the negative effects of even slightly elevated cholesterol accumulate over the years.
An American specialist compares this risk to smoking: the more cigarettes we smoke over the years, the more we are exposed to cancer and other diseases, including cardiovascular diseases. He cites the observations of about 1500 people aged 35-55.
Her calculations show that in the case of cholesterol, its concentration is too high with every decade by 40 percent. increases the risk of heart disease. It is greater even when we have normal blood pressure, we do not have diabetes, and we are not overweight or obese.
Dr. Navar-Boggan emphasizes that you do not need to take medications to lower elevated cholesterol levels. Often, it is enough to change the diet and increase physical activity. This is especially true for people with slightly or even moderately elevated cholesterol.
The NATPOL 2011 research shows that too high a level of total cholesterol, i.e. 190 mg / dl (milligrams per deciliter), has 61 percent. (almost 18 million) adult Poles aged 18-79. As much as 65 percent of them are unaware of it, so they don’t even try to change it.
Dr. Filip Szymański from the Cardiology Clinic of the Medical University of Warsaw claims that the measurement of the concentration of the so-called bad cholesterol (LDL). It should be routinely tested at least once a year.
According to the recommendations of the ESC and the Polish Caryological Society, blood LDL concentration should not exceed 115 mg / dl. In people with coronary artery disease, after a heart attack or stroke, as well as diabetes and kidney disease, it must not be higher than 70 mg / dl. (PAP)