Why heart patients still have high bad cholesterol
Lipid levels in patients hospitalized with coronary artery disease: an analysis of 136,905 hospitalizations in Get With The Guidelines.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Only 1.4% of heart attack patients met ideal lipid criteria (LDL <70 and HDL ≥60) at hospital admission.
Most people assume that after being diagnosed with heart disease, patients are aggressively treated and near target — but this shows the vast majority are far from it.
Practical Takeaways
If you have heart disease or are at risk, ask your doctor: 'Are my LDL and HDL levels on track — and if not, why not?'
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Only 1.4% of heart attack patients met ideal lipid criteria (LDL <70 and HDL ≥60) at hospital admission.
Most people assume that after being diagnosed with heart disease, patients are aggressively treated and near target — but this shows the vast majority are far from it.
Practical Takeaways
If you have heart disease or are at risk, ask your doctor: 'Are my LDL and HDL levels on track — and if not, why not?'
Publication
Journal
American heart journal
Year
2009
Authors
Amit Sachdeva, C. Cannon, P. Deedwania, K. Labresh, Sidney C. Smith, David Dai, Adrian F. Hernandez, G. Fonarow
Related Content
Claims (10)
From 2000 to 2006, both 'bad' and 'good' cholesterol levels in heart disease patients admitted to the hospital gradually went down.
More than half of heart disease patients admitted to the hospital have low levels of 'good' cholesterol, which is linked to higher heart disease risk.
Women with heart disease tend to have higher 'bad' cholesterol levels than men when they are first admitted to the hospital.
When people with heart disease are admitted to the hospital, their 'bad' cholesterol is usually around 105 mg/dL, which is higher than what doctors now recommend for heart health.
Very few heart disease patients—just 1 in 70—have both very low 'bad' cholesterol and high 'good' cholesterol at the time they’re admitted to the hospital.