(RxWiki News) Managing lipids, naturally forming fats and cholesterol, can help cut the risk of cardiovascular disease. Now the European Society or Cardiology has released new guidelines to help patients and doctors work together to manage these lipids.
ESC suggests that lifestyle interventions are necessary for managing lipids. The organization suggests avoiding smoking, eating healthier, exercising regularly and consuming alcohol in moderation.
"Maintain a healthy lifestyle to keep cholesterol low."
The new guidelines recommend statins for lowering LDL cholesterol if target lipid levels cannot be met solely through lifestyle changes with consideration to cost and quality of life. High risk patients are urged to seek specialist advice.
The group notes that heart disease is driven in part by a pandemic of obesity and diabetes, yet much is still need to be done to control dyslipidemia, a key risk factor. Dyslipidemia is an abnormal amount of lipids in the blood, often due to diet and lifestyle.
LDL cholesterol remains the primary priority in lipid management with the setting of new target cholesterol goals. The guidelines stipulate that high risk patients should aim for a target 50 percent reduction in cholesterol.
Don Poldermans, ESC review coordinator and professor of medicine and head of perioperative cardiac care at Erasmus Medical Centre in the Netherlands, stresses that lipid-modifying treatments need to be customized to patients according to their heart risk.
He noted that what is suitable for a 40-year-old man with no family history of heart disease would not be appropriate for an elderly patient who recently had a stroke.
