Complain about a product or service

Study: Cholesterol Risk Guidelines May Need Update

Standards for measuring heart damage risk may be lax

January 13, 2009

• Cholesterol Not Always a Heart Risk Indicator • Statin Cuts Heart Risk in the Healthy • Study Casts Doubt on Cholesterol Drug Vytorin • The Vytorin Study: A Doctor's Advice • Can Oatmeal Really Lower Your Cholesterol? • Survey Finds At-Risk Consumers Interested in OTC Statin • Some Statins Linked to Sleep Disruptions • Study Finds Association Between Low Cholesterol Levels and Cancer • Statins: Safe, Well Tolerated and Effective • Statins Linked to Lower Risk of Infection • Consumer Reports Pushes For Generic Cholesterol Drug Use • Statins Shown to Reduce Stroke Risk • Statins May Protect Against Colo-Rectal Cancer • FDA Approves Generic Form of Zocor • Study Disputes Supplement's Cholesterol Claims • Two Popular Statins Going Generic • FDA Approves Generic Version Of Cholesterol Drug • Doctors May Be Underprescribing Statins • Plant Sterol Pills Help Lower Cholesterol • Study Touts Statins' Effectiveness After Heart Attack • Crestor Study Raises More Safety Issues • Mevacor To Remain Prescription Drug

Nearly 75 percent of patients hospitalized for a heart attack had cholesterol levels that would indicate they were not at high risk for a cardiovascular event, according to current national cholesterol guidelines, according to a new national study.

Specifically, these patients had low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, or "good cholesterol," levels that met current guidelines, and close to half had LDL, or "bad cholesterol," levels classified in guidelines as optimal (less than 100 mg/dL).

"Almost 75 percent of heart attack patients fell within recommended targets for LDL cholesterol, demonstrating that the current guidelines may not be low enough to cut heart attack risk in most who could benefit," said Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow, Eliot Corday Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Science at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the study's principal investigator.

While the risk of cardiovascular events increases substantially with LDL levels above 40 mg/dL, current national cholesterol guidelines consider LDL levels less than 100 mg/dL acceptable for many individuals. The guidelines are thus not effectively identifying the majority of individuals who will develop fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events, according to the study's authors.

Researchers also found that more than half of patients hospitalized for a heart attack had poor high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels, according to national guidelines.

The study, published in the January issue of the American Heart Journal, suggests that lowering guideline targets for LDL cholesterol for those at risk for cardiovascular disease, as well as developing better treatments to raise HDL cholesterol, may help reduce the number of patients hospitalized for heart attack in the future.

"The study gives us new insight and intervention ideas to help reduce the number of heart attacks," said Fonarow, who is also director of the Ahmanson–UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center.

"This is one of the first studies to address lipid levels in patients hospitalized for a heart attack at hospitals across the entire country."

The research team used a national database sponsored by the American Heart Association's Get with the Guidelines program. The database includes information on patients hospitalized for cardiovascular disease at 541 hospitals across the country.

Researchers analyzed data from 136,905 patients hospitalized for a heart attack nationwide between 2000 and 2006 whose lipid levels upon hospital admission were documented. This accounted for 59 percent of total hospital admissions for heart attack at participating hospitals during the study period.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Share		Follow us on Twitter.