He human organism you need the right amount of fats either lipids to work. If it has too much fat -i.e. a high cholesterol level-, a buildup begins to occur in the arteries, which can combine with other substances in the blood and form plaques. This is how the process known as atherosclerosiswhich can benefit increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Older adults are generally thought of more when talking about cholesterol problems and atherosclerosis. But An investigation carried out in Spain shed light on what is happening in the health of young people.
Scientists of the National Center for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC) They found that people youths They could be more susceptible to the damaging effect of factors that promote the atherosclerosis process. Because They are more vulnerable to the harmful effects of two of these factors: high cholesterol and blood pressure.
The study was published in the journal Journal of the American College of Cardiology. He warned about the need for aggressive control of cardiovascular risk factors to begin at an earlier age in life. According to the researchers, “primary prevention strategies must be changed.”
The study was led by Dr. Valentin Fustergeneral director of the CNIC and the Cardiovascular Institute of the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, United States, and Borja Ibanezscientific director of CNIC, cardiologist at the Fundación Jiménez Díaz University Hospital, and member of the CIBERCV.
The Atherosclerosis can occur without symptoms and that is why it is considered “subclinical”. It often progresses in middle-aged people, especially when levels of LDL cholesterol (which builds up on the walls of the arteries) and blood pressure are even slightly or moderately elevated.
There were few studies in the world that have evaluated the presence of silent atherosclerosis, that is, in completely asymptomatic people, in apparently healthy young or middle-aged people, and that have investigated how this disease progresses throughout life.
Spanish researchers launched the study in 2009 WEIGHT (for the initials in English of “Progression of early subclinical atherosclerosis).
More than 4,000 middle-aged and apparently healthy volunteers from Banco Santander in Madrid participated in an exhaustive non-invasive imaging study every three years of several arterial territories (carotid, femoral, coronary and aorta).
In addition, blood samples were taken to carry out advanced studies of genomic medicine, proteomics, metabolomics.
They obtained volume data from carotid plaque, which accumulates in the vessels of the neck, and plaque from the arteries in the legs. They detected that 44% of apparently healthy participants had subclinical atherosclerosis at the beginning of the study. That percentage rose to 58% during 6 years of follow-up.
It means that the disorder progressed by a third of the population studied. Regression was seen in only 8%. In the rest, the disease remained stable. Age, high LDL cholesterol (LDL-c), high blood pressure, male sex and smoking were predictive factors for the risk of plaque accumulation.
“The PESA study has already contributed in a very important way to the knowledge of cardiovascular disease and is considered the most advanced in this field,” said Dr. Fuster.
This study has very important implications in the field of cardiovascular prevention and personalized medicine.
Ibáñez explained: “In this work we have identified, among other findings, that the impact of moderately high cholesterol levels and blood pressure on the progression of atherosclerosis is much more marked in young people than in older people.”
Control of risk factors (mainly cholesterol and blood pressure) should begin at a very early age. when the arteries are most vulnerable to the damaging effect of these factors.
Dr. Ibáñez considered that the results “open the door to a personalized medicine approach, where the intensity of risk factor control is guided by the presence and progression of silent atherosclerosis identified by imaging technology.”
The cardiologist Guiomar Mendietafirst author of the work, added that “another of the great findings of this work is that atherosclerosis, which until now had been considered an irreversible progressive phenomenon, can disappear if the risk factors are controlled early.”
The contribution of the CNIC researchers to the study has been funded by the European Commission, the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain and the Madrid’s community.
In an editorial that accompanied the work, Charles German and Michael Shapiro of the University of Chicago and the Wake Forest University-Winston Salem, in the United States, highlighted the relevance of this research. They consider it to be “a call to action to rethink when and how doctors should intervene aggressively to prevent cardiovascular disease.”
In dialogue with Infobaethe doctor Ricardo Reyhead of the lipid clinic at Cardiovascular Institute (ICBA) in Argentina, commented: “A third of the young people studied had atherosclerotic lesions during the 6-year follow-up. These results indicate that you don’t have to wait until you’re 40 to lower your cholesterol. Much earlier, a decision can be made to reduce the altered levels.”
Starting at age 20, people should have their cholesterol tested. If it is high, they should adopt a healthy diet (with more consumption of sea fish, fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products and less red meat) and do more physical activity. If it is very high, the health professional may indicate pharmacological treatment, said Dr. Rey. Blood pressure should also be controlled from the age of 20 and access treatment if appropriate.
“Another factor is that you should not start smoking or quit as soon as possible. Because tobacco enhances the other risk factors. You also have to consider if family members have cholesterol and blood pressure problems,” Rey advised.
“Based on the results of this new study, young people should be made aware of the fact that atherosclerotic disease begins early in life. They should take into account that cholesterol, blood glucose and blood pressure controls can detect the most frequent risk factors for the development of the disease and be treated early to avoid its consequences,” he commented to Infobae the doctor Alejandro Merettadirector of the higher course of cardiologists at the Argentine Society of Cardiology and ICBA.
Doctors, health centers and hospitals should also encourage early detection and correct treatment, the expert said. It should be demystified that atherosclerosis is a disease that only affects older people. It also affects young people.
“The disease begins in early stages and if not treated progresses: The end result is heart attacks and strokes. But there is a large silent period in which atherosclerosis damages the body. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt healthy habits during youth, to treat diabetes, to do physical activity and to abandon tobacco consumption to prevent the progression of the disease,” he emphasized.