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 Researchers reviewed data on more than 16,000 Hispanic adults aged
18 to 74 and found that younger people and individuals born in the
U.S. were less likely to know if their cholesterol levels were
elevated, and that men were less likely than women to get needed
treatment.
“Hispanics have a high prevalence of high cholesterol due probably
to a mix of genes and diet,” lead study author Dr. Carlos Rodriguez
of Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
said by email. “What is more surprising is the lack of awareness,
treatment and control that needs to change.”
Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that can build up on
artery walls, blocking blood flow and increasing the risk for heart
disease and stroke.
Eating a healthy diet, exercising and avoiding tobacco and alcohol
can curb the risk of developing high cholesterol, according to the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Rodriguez and colleagues reviewed data on Hispanic patients screened
at clinics in San Diego, Chicago, New York and Miami from 2008 to
2011, they report in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Participants were classified as having high cholesterol if they were
taking medications for the condition; if lab tests found elevated
levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the bad kind of cholesterol
that builds up in blood vessels and can lead to blood clots and
heart attacks; or if screening detected high levels of total
cholesterol.
To measure awareness of the condition, researchers asked patients if
a doctor or other clinician had ever told them they had high
cholesterol. To assess treatment, they asked people with the
condition if they were taking prescribed medication.
Despite a higher prevalence of high cholesterol among men, awareness
of the condition was higher among women, a difference that was most
pronounced among older participants.
People were more likely to be aware of the condition if they had
other medical problems including high blood pressure, diabetes or
excess weight. Participants with diabetes and high blood pressure,
however, were also more likely to get treatment.
Although the likelihood of being treated for high cholesterol
increased with age, only 32 percent and 54 percent of middle-aged
and older Hispanics, respectively, actually got treatment.
Immigrants were less likely to get treatment than people born in the
U.S., the study found.
It’s not surprising that younger adults and more recent immigrants
are less likely to receive treatment, said Eileen Crimmins, a
gerontology researcher at the University of Southern California in
Los Angeles.
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Older people are more likely to go to the doctor, increasing the
odds that they might be screened for high cholesterol, noted
Crimmins, who wasn’t involved in the study.
“Once you get into the medical system you are more likely to be
diagnosed for something like high cholesterol,” she said in an
email. “I do not think this is a problem unique to Hispanics, but
for recent immigrants the lack of medical insurance might be higher
than for others.”
The study findings might overestimate or underestimate awareness or
treatment for high cholesterol, because researchers relied on
patients' memory rather than a review of medical records, but the
results ring true, said Dr. Robert Kauffman, a director of
reproductive medicine and infertility at Texas Tech University
Health Sciences Center School of Medicine in Amarillo.
At best, half of his Hispanic patients are still taking their high
cholesterol medication a year after starting on it – “and I believe
I have a good doctor-patient relationship with most of them,”
Kauffman, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email.
Lack of insurance or inability to afford medication may motivate
some people, but it’s not the only factor, he said.
“Many men and women – despite good patient education efforts –
simply elect not to take medication, fail to change habits like
being sedentary with no exercise program, refuse to change dietary
and caloric intake, etc.,” Kauffman said. “Some of this is disease
denial. If they feel healthy, they rationalize taking medication is
not needed.“
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1EZ8ITx Journal of the American Heart
Association, online June 24, 2015.
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