Dyslipidemia Treatment in Old Age

Released on = July 22, 2005, 4:33 am

Press Release Author = Lipidhealth.org

Industry = Healthcare

Press Release Summary = The risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) can be reduced to a great extent among the elderly people in the United States. This is claimed by a study and supported by facilitating treatments made by a set of physicians from
lipidhealth.org.

Press Release Body = CVD among the middle-aged and the senior citizens in US had been a major problem, the solution to which is often left on luck. In persons above 85 years, CVD accounts for 58% of the mortality. In persons above 65 years, the risk of atherosclerotic disease is more than double when compared to the middle-aged group.

A physician from lipidhealth.org, Kannel, however seems to have made a breakthrough in the study of CVD and atherosclerotic diseases among the elderly people.

Kannel’s study shows that morbidity and mortality in both the middle-aged and elderly people can be greatly reduced by correcting hypertension and dyslipidemia. Other measures are yet to be checked and established. However, there’s a ray of light that promises positive results.

In people above 65 years of age, the serum TC levels often shoots up over a level of 240 mg/dL. The NCEP ATP-II guidelines recommend adequate treatment only after this level. Kannel focuses on the Framingham Heart Study and concludes that the median serum TC at which coronary events occurred was only 221 mg/dL in men and 246 mg/dL in women. This implies that 50% or more coronary events in the elderly usually occur at cholesterol levels that are recommended to be comparatively safe by the NCEP
ATP-II.

The study hints that the following can help in reducing the risk of CVD in elderly people:

• Reducing homocysteine levels
• Reducing fibrinogen levels
• Smoking cessation
• Exercise
• Weight reduction

If cholesterol fractions other than TC are evaluated, there seems to be a positive correlation between the total blood lipids measured after the age of 65 years and the development of coronary disease or the occurrence of strokes. This is supported by this information - TC: HDL-C ratio efficiently predicts CHD in the elderly as well as the middle-aged.

NCEP confirms that treatment of the elderly should be individualized because both dietary and drug therapy have additional clinical implications for older patients.
Lipid-regulating therapy should encompass other factors, and not only age, when treating the elderly patient. A CHS report also confirms that patients aged between 65 to 75 years with a CHD history are generally undertreated or not treated at all.

Web Site = http://www.lipidhealth.org

Contact Details = meenakshi@mosaic-service.com