The most susceptible to strokes and heart attacks are “sofa people”, that is, those who move little and do not play sports. And this is one of the ways to prevent cardiovascular diseases, says physician Dr. Cesarius Scibiorski. Getting your cholesterol and lipid profile checked on time can save your life.
Dr. Cesarius Scibiorski is the author of publications in the fields of cardiology, diabetes, oncology and pharmacoeconomics. In addition to his professional activities, he is passionate about music, hosts his own radio show on RadioJazz.FM and writes articles for JazzPress.pl.
Monika Witkowska: “Wprost”: How often should you check your cholesterol levels?
Dr. Cesar Szybiorski: Cholesterol testing and lipid profiling are recommended after age 40. However, if there were cases of strokes or heart attacks in the family, then such a test should be carried out in younger patients. I remember a case of a 20-year-old girl who had a total cholesterol level of 500, with values usually up to 200, and an LDL ratio of 300, usually around 120. Her parents both had heart attacks in their 40s, with her grandmother and grandpa had a stroke. This is one of the cases when it is necessary to immediately carry out pharmacological treatment that prevents the development of atherosclerosis in such a young person.
What are the recommendations for statin treatment?
In 2019, two important documents were published: American guidelines and European guidelines. They provide recommendations on the use of lipid-lowering therapy for the prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases. The most frequently used, in the presence of such indications, drugs for this indication are drugs belonging to the group of so-called HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, commonly known as statins. Compliance with the recommendations set out in them is to prevent the occurrence of atherosclerosis and complications in the form of heart attacks and strokes in patients.
It should be emphasized that we distinguish between two types of prevention: primary, when atherosclerosis has not yet developed, and secondary, when the patient is immediately diagnosed with a disease associated with it. In the latter case, it is believed that statin treatment should be started as soon as the disease is diagnosed in order to prevent its further progression and complications, such as heart attack or stroke. In the case of primary prevention, i.e. when atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease has not yet been diagnosed, statin treatment is offered to people whose risk of complications exceeds 10%. within 10 years.
This is a significant change in the approach to treatment. In fact, both guidelines do not have a “cholesterol standard”, the focus is on total cardiovascular risk, of which lipid levels are only one component. In other words, it is not the concentration of cholesterol and its individual fractions that is more important, but the expected risk of heart disease in a given person.
Source: Wprost
