Early intervention to correct cholesterol levels is the way to prevent heart disease

Early intervention to correct cholesterol levels is the way to prevent heart disease

NEW YORK - New research conducted at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas says that early intervention to balance the level of cholesterol in the blood will help avoid heart disease in future. The foundation for the risk of developing heart disease in later life is laid down very early and ensuring that cholesterol does not get out of hand is the best way to cut down the this risk.

Reporting in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, the researchers led by Helen H. Hobbs say that the initial steps in tackling cholesterol have a "dramatic" impact on the risk of coronary heart disease later on in life.

"What this study shows is that low plasma levels of LDL had a dramatic effect on the incidence of coronary events over a 15-year period. This is in individuals living in the same place, subjected to the same stresses, and having a similar prevalence of the major coronary risk factors - hypertension, diabetes, and smoking - and really high levels of those risk factors," Hobbs, who is a investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute said.

The researchers analyzed 13,000 people for the presence of risk factors for heart disease. It was found that low levels of LDL or "bad" cholesterol lowered the risk of heart disease even if other risk factors like smoking were present. This finding was true irrespective of racial trends. In the black population a 28 percent reduction in LDL levels resulted in an 88 percent fall in the risk for coronary heart disease, while in whites a 15 percent reduction in LDL was responsible for a 50 percent drop in coronary heart disease risk.

In an accompanying editorial in the NEJM, Columbia University professor Alan Tall wrote that the findings of the study “suggest that a one percent reduction in LDL cholesterol level over a lifetime translates into a reduction of more than two percent in the risk of cardiovascular disease. The new findings suggest the need to redouble our efforts to reduce LDL cholesterol levels in younger persons by promoting healthy diets and reducing obesity.”