Heart patients being 'failed' by doctors over cholesterol levels
Heart patients being 'failed' by doctors not providing adequate cholesterol reducing targets
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Thursday, 11, Mar 2010 12:02
By Sarah Garrod.
A study out today has claimed doctors are failing to lower heart patients' cholesterol levels adequately, with women particularly at risk.
According to research in the European Heart Journal only half of all patients at high risk of heart disease are given correct targets for lowering their cholesterol levels.
The study, of 25,250 patients in Germany, investigated the way primary care doctors assessed their patients' risk factors and other health problems when deciding on cholesterol-lowering targets. Despite being conducted in Germany, the researchers said they believed the study applied to the rest of Europe also.
The claim from those who led the research is that approximately 50-80 fewer heart attacks, strokes and heart disease-related deaths per 1000 patients over a ten year period could be avoided if all doctors followed the example of the best doctors who adhered to the guidelines on cholesterol-lowering targets.
Cholesterol - a fatty substance carried in the blood on proteins called low-density lipoproteins (LDL) - is a major risk factor in heart-related problems.
The researchers found in a survey of 907 doctors that just over half of male patients and less than half of female patients were assigned correct LDL targets. Patients were more likely to be given correct targets if they had a history of heart attacks, coronary artery disease, with or without bypass surgery, and diabetes. However, doctors were more likely to underestimate women's risk and assign them incorrect targets.
Professor Heribert Schunkert, who led the research, said that if more doctors followed existing guidelines on cholesterol-lowering targets they could prevent a greater number of heart disease-related incidents such as heart attacks, strokes and deaths.
Prof Schunkert said: "Our study focused on cholesterol treatment of patients in Germany, and, more specifically, the awareness of primary care physicians for how patients' characteristics affect LDL target values. Even though confined to one nation, the study may highlight similar scenarios in other European countries and those around the world. In fact, similar data were reported from Italy.
"The core question involves the perception of patient risk: for example, women are often perceived as having a lower cardiovascular risk compared to their real risk, and this may lead to insufficient treatment. This aspect has also been reported in other regions of the world.
"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."