Too Many Have High
LDL Cholesterol
CHICAGO, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- The gap between those U.S. adults with optimal low-density lipoprotein cholesterol vs. actual cholesterol levels is widening, finds a study.
An estimated 63 million adults have LDL-C levels -- "bad cholesterol" -- higher than what would be ideal as recommended by the National Institutes of Health, while 38 million have health conditions that put them at increased risk for cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Stephen D. Persell and co-researchers at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine compared 2001 National Institute of Health cholesterol level targets with revised, more stringent, optimal targets issued in 2004. They found 10 million more adults had LDL-C levels above the new targets.
"Nationally, we are far from achieving the 2001 goals, and as new evidence leads the NIH to push optional goals down further, the gap between what we believe to be ideal goals and what has been achieved gets even wider," Persell said.
The findings were published in the February issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine
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