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How and how much to lower LDL cholesterol, the 'silent killer' that causes heart attacks and strokes

2024-11-24 17:04:47Lifestyle SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
How and how much to lower LDL cholesterol, the 'silent killer' that
How and how much to lower LDL cholesterol, the 'silent killer' that causes heart attacks and strokes

You can't see or hear it, but it can do a lot of damage: LDL cholesterol is called the "silent killer" because it is now known to be a direct cause of atherosclerosis and thus cardiovascular problems, such as heart attack and stroke.

Thus, cholesterol level is, along with blood pressure and blood sugar, one of the "numbers" that everyone should know to have an idea of ​​their cardiovascular risk.

Pasquale Perrone Filardi, president of the Italian Society of Cardiology, Fabrizio Oliva, president of the National Association of Hospital Cardiologists, and Vincenzo Contursi, president of the Italian Association of Primary Care, underline first of all that the safety thresholds are different for everyone, based in different criteria.

In fact, if in the past the right "numbers" were more or less the same for everyone, today it is understood that factors such as age, family history of cardiovascular diseases, sex (at least until menopause) and the presence of others, such as hypertension or diabetes, contribute to determining the threshold that should not be exceeded for each.

As Oliva explained, “everyone should know their LDL cholesterol level, from a young age; then, based on other risk factors present, the target to aim for may be to remain below 100 mg/dl if there are no factors that increase the probability of cardiovascular events, but may still need to go below 50 mg/dl Mr. dl, if the risk is high. And we need to intervene quickly if we are above the warning level: when cholesterol remains high for a long time, it causes damage."

The objective would be "primary" prevention, as Perrone Filardi added: "This is primary prevention, which is aimed at those who have not had a cardiovascular event: it is prevention with the aim of avoiding the occurrence of risk factors that worsen the risk profile, which aims to avoid developing high blood pressure or diabetes and not becoming obese. To achieve this, health education from a very young age would be the real prevention."

It is what is put into practice with a healthy lifestyle, consisting of a balanced diet and regular movement, in healthy people who must remain healthy thanks to good habits.

Unfortunately, people who are healthy or who consider themselves healthy, for example, because they have never had a cardiovascular event or never had their blood pressure or blood sugar checked, or because their cholesterol is not very high, but still beyond borders, "can be more complicated to track, intercept and manage," as Contursi adds.

"Foods can help those with low risk and LDL cholesterol levels that are not too high, but they should always be prescribed by a doctor: precisely because they work, it is important that they are used well, but it is equally essential to have a physician to monitor therapy, to intervene more deeply with drugs if supplements are no longer sufficient to keep cholesterol within the appropriate threshold for these persons."

There are many options to achieve the goal, as all experts have pointed out: from statins, which can lower cholesterol levels by up to 55 percent, to newer injectable drugs that can lower it by up to 85 percent. percent to prevent the "silent killer" from striking.

The bottom line is knowing your cardiovascular risk and cholesterol levels, but not just measuring them once a month, as Contursi concludes: "In healthy, low-risk adults, a test every three to five years can be enough, while for those who are not younger or with a higher cardiovascular risk, the analyzes should be more frequent and those who are on therapy, need an annual check-up".


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