Compact News: CDC Press Release: Half of those who need them not taking cholesterol-lowering medications

Thursday, December 3, 2015

CDC Press Release: Half of those who need them not taking cholesterol-lowering medications

Press Release

Thursday, December 3, 2015

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Half of those who need them not taking cholesterol-lowering medications

Blacks, Mexican Americans less likely to be taking recommended cholesterol-lowering medication

More than a third of American adults are eligible to take cholesterol-lowering medications under the current guidelines or were already taking them – but nearly half of them are not, according to a report by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers published in the current issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). Blacks and Mexican Americans are less likely than whites to be taking cholesterol-lowering medications.

Data from 2007 through 2014 show a decline in the number of Americans with high blood levels of cholesterol. There also has been a recent increase in the use of cholesterol-lowering medications. But a high blood level of LDL cholesterol – also known as “bad” cholesterol - remains a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke in the United States.

Some people with high LDL cholesterol and who have or are at risk of heart disease are eligible for cholesterol-lowering medications. They should also make lifestyle changes such as getting regular exercise, eating a heart-healthy diet, and losing weight. Yet fewer than half of people eligible for or who were taking cholesterol-lowering medication make these changes, the study found.

“Nearly 800,000 people die in the U.S. each year from cardiovascular diseases – that’s one in every three deaths – and high cholesterol continues to be a major risk factor,” said Dr. Carla Mercado, a scientist in CDC’s Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention. “This study reveals opportunities to reduce existing disparities through targeted patient education and cholesterol management programs.”

Getting 65 percent of Americans to manage their high levels of LDL cholesterol by 2017 is one of the major targets of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Million Hearts initiative to prevent one million heart attacks and strokes.