It is a well documented fact in medical chronicles that high blood pressure and high cholesterol can lead to many other medical conditions.
Findings of a latest study have established that if blood pressure and cholesterol are controlled simultaneously, the chances of contracting a heart disease go down by as much as 50 percent or even more.
The Study
For the purpose of the study, researchers examined more than 17,000 American adults who were part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys 1988-94, 1999-2004 and 2005-10.
Among other things, the cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and demographics like age were assessed. Other parameters like insurance status, smoking habits or the presence of any medical condition like diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease etc were also taken into consideration by the study author. Participants were also questioned whether they visited the doctor every year.
“The reality is, we know more than enough to prevent 75 percent of heart disease and strokes, but we’re not doing everything we could be doing or even doing it at a reasonable level,” noted Brent M. Egan, lead study author and professor of medicine and pharmacology at Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.
Both HDL and LDL Important
The researchers found that if it the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels were good, the person had a tendency to ignore the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels.
The study authors state that an individual should be careful about the HDL as well as the LDL. Having only the HDL under control can provide a false sense of security to an individual and can adversely affect his health.
“We’ve made some gradual improvements over the years, but there is still a lot of progress to be made,” Egan said.
The findings of the study have been published in the American Heart Association journal.
