Three out of four respondents in a national survey by the Portuguese Foundation for Cardiology (FPC) published this Thursday do not know their cholesterol levels, a lack of knowledge that increases in younger groups and decreases with age.
The study “Os Portugals eo Colesterol 2023” by GFK Metris for the FPC will be revealed in the Foundation’s “May Heart Month” campaign presentation, which aims to raise awareness of the importance of protecting your heart, controlling bad cholesterol (LDL), one of the main risk factors for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease, and raise awareness of the current state of the cardiovascular situation in Portugal.
According to a study conducted in April of 800 people aged 18 and over living on the continent, 88% of respondents aged 18 to 24 do not know their cholesterol levels, and by the age of 25 this figure drops to 86%. and 44-year-olds, to 66% of those aged 45 to 64, rising to 69% of respondents aged 65 and over.
The vast majority (89%) know that cholesterol is a fat that circulates in the human body, and 64% believe that the normal value is less than 190 mg / dL.
Among diseases caused by elevated cholesterol levels, 42% singled out cerebrovascular accident (CNS), 25% myocardial infarction and 18% cardiovascular diseases. As the main cause of myocardial infarction, 49% point to elevated cholesterol levels and 32% to arterial hypertension.
One-third of respondents believe it is false that certain dietary supplements are better at lowering cholesterol than the statins prescribed by doctors, and almost all reject the idea that “regular exercise does not benefit people with high cholesterol” or that “thin people do not you have to worry about cholesterol. This is the problem of overweight people.”
Speaking to the Lusa agency, FPC president Manuel Carrageta said that the health status of the Portuguese “worsened after the pandemic and cardiovascular disease continues to be the main cause of death in Portugal”, accounting for about 30,000 deaths. almost a third of all deaths every year.
About eight out of 10 cardiovascular deaths that occur before the age of 70 are avoidable, according to the FPC.
The foundation notes that every 15 minutes a person dies of cardiovascular disease in Portugal and this reality must be reversed, warning the public to urgently address cholesterol as a determinant cardiovascular risk factor that, if controlled, could help reverse this situation.
“Myocardial infarction alone kills, on average, more than two people a day,” the cardiologist explained, explaining that the disease is “largely” driven by risk factors, namely cholesterol.
According to Manuel Carrageta, there is still “a certain ignorance of its meaning, a lot of myths and a lot of controversy”.
“High cholesterol does not cause symptoms, and if they do, it is in the form of cardiovascular events in the event of a myocardial infarction,” he warned, recalling the FPC study, which shows that two-thirds of the population have high cholesterol.
He also pointed out that another recent study showed that more than 90% of patients at high and very high cardiovascular risk did not have cholesterol levels within the recommended range, and about 20% of patients at very high risk were not taking any medication.
Manuel Carrageta stressed the importance of statin treatment, which he assured was “safe and essential drugs” to reduce these diseases, contrary to the idea that “was created in public opinion.”
FPC, AVC Portugal and the Heart Failure Support Association have teamed up to form the Invisible Nations Coalition, which aims to raise awareness of the need to study the impact of cardiovascular disease on the population and ways to prevent it. , as well as the development of a program of action aimed at initiating a change in behavior in society,
The coalition was born out of the concern of its founders “with the current scenario of cardiovascular diseases in Portugal and the lack of measures and actions by the health authorities to effectively reduce the negative impact they have on Portugal from a medical point of view. “., socio-economic”.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.