A recent international study which proved to reduce bad cholesterol by a dramatic 70 percent has also confirmed reduction of vascular inflammation which can lead to heart disease. Local medical practitioners and the UAE Heart Network, a local-based initiative for combating bad cholesterol, announced the findings today hoping that the medical society will take immediate action.
The breakthrough research called statin therapy conducted at the Methodist DeBakey Heart Centre in Houston reported the results from the Explorer Medical Trial that there was a 46 percent reduction in C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker for inflammation, in patients treated with Crestor.
“Inflammation has to be taken seriously because it can lead to complications, and if we neglect what it can do to the heart, it might be too late before the risk is detected,” commented Dr. Saadi J. S. Al-Jadir, Consultant Physician and Endocrinologist, Fujairah Medical Region.
Bad LDL Cholesterol is the cause of the most dangerous silent killers in UAE -- heart attacks. “The threat of a heart attack is however not only coming from LDL but also from inflammation. It is a welcome discovery that this threat is now also being addressed by combined medications,” he explained.
In the UAE, heart attacks cause more deaths than cancer and the country has one of the highest statistics of residents with high cholesterol levels in the world. Almost 17 million people die from CVD every year worldwide. This number is higher than that for HIV/AIDS and all types of cancer combined yet it is the most underestimated and ignored condition in UAE.
“These additional benefits need to be disseminated to more people who sometimes are unaware that they do belong amongst a very high - risk population. Most people very rarely perform regular cholesterol checks, exercise or eat healthy which immediately catapults them into the high risk category,” concluded Dr. Al-Jadir.
The statin therapy, a combined therapy designed to achieve optimal reductions in both factors -- vascular inflammation and bad cholesterol is tested among 465 patients in five different countries. The study is also presented at the World Congress of Cardiology in Barcelona, Spain last September.
