Approximately 50% of patients experiencing a heart attack or stroke have normal cholesterol levels.1
The Framingham study in 1948 initially established standard risk factors for heart disease, or atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), to include high blood pressure, age, family history, cholesterol, obesity, diabetes, an unhealthy diet and whether an individual smokes. However, evidence is continually accumulating that the Framingham risk analysis is limited and fails to accurately detect the presence of heart disease in individuals.
2
As mentioned previously, the risk of developing heart disease has traditionally been assessed by measurement of LDL (low-density lipoprotein; “bad” cholesterol) and HDL (high-density lipoprotein; “good” cholesterol). However, a recent study demonstrates that about 50% of heart attacks and strokes occur in people with normal cholesterol levels.
1 This suggests that many people at risk are presumably “healthy” because they have normal cholesterol levels. Thus, routine cholesterol tests are failing to identify people at risk for heart attack and stroke.
Although it is essential to know your cholesterol levels, what actually causes adverse cardiac events (heart attack, stroke or death) is inflammation3, specifically vulnerable plaque related to increased inflammation.
Cleveland HeartLab has established a simple, yet reliable and affordable biomarker testing that provides additive and complementary insight into your risk for heart disease and adverse cardiac events.
References
1. Ridker PM et al. Rosuvastatin to prevent vascular events in men and women with elevated C-reactive protein. N Engl J Med. 2008; 359: 2195-2207.
2. Johnson KM et al. Traditional clinical risk assessment tools do not accurately predict coronary atherosclerotic plaque burden: A CT-angiography study. Am J Roentgenology. 2009; 192: 235-243.
3. Ross, R et al. Atherosclerosis - An inflammatory disease. N Engl J Med. 1999; 340: 115-126.