Did you know that 73.5 million adults have an elevated level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or “bad” cholesterol? Additionally, only 1 out of every 3 adults that have high LDL actually have it under control. These rates could improve if we all take the time to educate ourselves and our patients about the importance of healthy cholesterol levels, and the impact these levels have on the cardiovascular system.
If you haven’t already, get your cholesterol checked! While some conditions may be out of our control such as family history, knowing your current cholesterol levels can help you to create a plan to maintain a healthy heart. Unchecked hypercholesterolemia can lead to heart conditions including heart attacks and stroke. Additionally, high cholesterol has no noticeable symptoms which makes it difficult to diagnose without a blood test (lipid panel/lipid profile). All the more reason to get it checked! To learn more about high cholesterol and caring for your patients, check out the CDC’s guidelines and tools.
Talking to your patients about their cholesterol may not be easy. Even if the topic falls into a category that is outside your field of expertise, the CDC has a communications kit filled with resources to help you to better educate patients on the benefits of monitoring and managing cholesterol.
Lastly, World Heart day is on September 29th. Visit this website to find out more about how you can get involved to spread the message about how critical heart health is to us all.
