SAN FRANCISCO, June 23 (UPI) -- The percentage of U.S. patients lowering their elevated "bad" cholesterol to within target levels nearly doubled in the last decade, researchers found.
Dr. David D. Waters, an emeritus professor at University of California in San Francisco who was the lead author of the study, said the Lipid Treatment Assessment Project surveyed nearly 10,000 patients -- average age 62 -- from nine countries undergoing cholesterol-lowering and management efforts. Low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, is known as "bad" cholesterol because it's associated with increased cardiovascular risk.
The study, published in the journal Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, found:
-- The number of patients successfully reaching low-density lipoprotein levels rose from 38 percent to 73 percent over the last 10 years.
-- Among high-risk patients, 67 percent reached established goal levels.
-- Thirty percent of very high risk patients -- those with existing coronary artery disease and two or more other risk factors such as obesity, diabetes and smoking -- successfully reached their LDL target of 70 milligrams per deciliter or less.
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