The results of a survey show that one out of four adults in Taiwan might have hyperlipidemia, but it is relatively underdiagnosed in the nation, the Taiwan Society of Lipids and Atherosclerosis said yesterday.
Four of the 10 leading causes of death — heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, diabetes and hypertension — are associated with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), or hardening of the arteries due to plaque buildup, the group said, citing Ministry of Health and Welfare data for last year.
The ministry’s 2017-2020 National Health Interview Survey showed that one-quarter of people aged 18 or older in Taiwan have hyperlipidemia, which extrapolates to about 5 million people with the condition nationwide, the group said.
Photo: CNA
If high cholesterol goes untreated, plaque can accumulate in the blood vessels and cause ASCVD, it said.
Taiwan Society of Lipids and Atherosclerosis chairman Huang Po-hsun (黃柏勳), who is a cardiologist at Taipei Veterans General Hospital, said that hyperlipidemia is a risk factor of cardiovascular disease, but as symptoms of ASCVD usually do not arise until the narrowing becomes severe, many people are unaware of the condition and do not get an examination.
Taiwan Society of Lipids and Atherosclerosis secretary-general Liu Ping-yen (劉秉彥), director of National Cheng Kung University Hospital’s Department of Internal Medicine, said that the risk of developing heart disease is about three times higher in people with hyperlipidemia, which is defined as having too much “bad cholesterol” — low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) — in the blood.
Too much LDL-C can cause cholesterol to build up on artery walls and form plaque, causing the arteries to harden and narrow, increasing the risk of stroke and heart attack, Liu said.
However, the diagnosis rate of hyperlipidemia in Taiwan is estimated to be only about 52 percent, lower than 80 percent in Japan and 63 percent in South Korea, Huang said.
The diagnosis rate is especially low in young people, but the mortality rate of heart disease in young people is similar to that of elderly people, he said.
People should not wait until cardiovascular events occur to get treatment, but should instead get routine examinations to understand and control their blood cholesterol, seek medical attention if their blood cholesterol is too high and continue to receive treatment steadily to manage it, Huang said.
According to the 2022 Taiwan Lipid Guidelines for High-Risk Patients, while people should keep their LDL-C level below 130mg per deciliter (dl), people with diabetes or kidney disease should target a level below 100mg/dl, and high-risk people who have had a cardiovascular event should have a level below 70mg/dl, Liu said.
People should have their blood cholesterol levels measured every year and should seek medical assistance if the levels are abnormal, he said.
Some people have the misconception that taking drugs is bad for the body, but there are now many options to manage hyperlipidemia, so they can discuss with their doctor which method is best for them, instead of trying folk remedies, he added.
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