Cardiovascular Health

摘要

In light of overwhelming scientific evidence about the benefits of lowering blood cholesterol, in particular LDL cholesterol, guidelines published last year call for more aggressive cholesterol treatment, especially in people who are found to be at increased risk for heart disease. We know that lowering cholesterol, particularly with the use of statin drugs, reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke. These drugs work primarily by slowing down production of cholesterol and by increasing the liver's ability to remove LDL cholesterol already in the blood. Most studies show that the use of statins reduces risk by about 25 to 40 percent. Considering that heart disease is the leading cause of death in this country, that's a huge improvement. But the other side of the coin is that the risk of heart disease remains quite high. So we haven't yet fully dealt with all of the factors responsible.