Doctors 'should set cholesterol-lowering levels'

Many health insurance customers who are at risk of heart disease are not being encouraged to lower their cholesterol by their doctors.

Research published in the European Heart Journal stated that only half of the 25,250 German patients looked at who were at high risk of the disease were given targets to reduce their cholesterol.

Lead researcher Professor Heribert Schunkert said that if more health insurance customers were given targets then a large number of heart disease-related incidents could be prevented.

The researchers found that 55 per cent and 49 per cent of men and women respectively were given the correct targets to reduce their lipo-density lipoproteins (LDL) cholesterol. However, they also revealed that doctors tended to underestimate women's risk more than men's, assigning them an incorrect target for reducing their cholesterol.

In addition, patients were more likely to be given the correct LDL targets if they had suffered a heart attack, bypass surgery or diabetes.

Professor Schunkert added that even though the current research is limited to Germany, it may "highlight similar scenarios in other European countries".

"We hope that the data from our study will remind physicians of the need to observe relevant guidelines to calculate individually every patient's target value, so that they can deliver the best possible care to all their patients," he explained.

Doctors should also be encouraging patients to increase their vitamin D levels, as research has shown that it plays a factor in heart health. The study from the University of Warwick showed that the vitamin in middle-aged or older people can help to reduce the chance of getting heart disease or diabetes.

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Posted by Louise Jones ADNFCR-2041-ID-19665283-ADNFCR

Adfero Ltd provides live and tailored breaking industry news for Chartis Direct. All industry news is prepared by Adfero Ltd and as such does not represent the views or opinions of Chartis Direct a trading name of UNAT Direct Insurance Management Limited.