Cholesterol Problems Worse For Women
Women have more trouble controlling their LDL “bad” cholesterol levels than men.
The reason may be that doctors underestimate the risk of high cholesterol and heart disease for women. Also, doctors may not be treating high cholesterol as aggressively in women as in men.
High cholesterol levels can contribute to cardiac problems like heart attacks, strokes, and hypertension.
According to the National Committee for Quality Assurance, the data from 46 commercial managed care plans and 148 Medicare plans shows that women have better outcomes than men on all cardiovascular and diabetes conditions except cholesterol control.
While 55% of white men with recent cardiac problems had their cholesterol levels under control, only 46% of white women did. For African-Americans, the levels were 45% for men and 34% for women.
In February, the American Heart Association released more aggressive recommendations, including lowering LDL cholesterol to less than 70 mg/dL in high risk women with heart disease.
There’s another factor that may impact certain women.
Menopause.
There’s a slight increase in LDL “bad” cholesterol and a slight decrease in HDL “good” cholesterol after menopause.
The good news is that you may be able to reduce your cholesterol through changes in diet and exercise in some cases. Other times, you may need drug therapy.
You should discuss with your doctor if you need to have your cholesterol levels measured and what treatment you may need, if any.
Technorati Tags: cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, heart disease
May 21st, 2007 at 11:53 am
That surprised me. I always thought women had fewer heart problems than men and that women would automatically have less of a cholesterol problem. It seems like it just catches up to us later in life after menopause.
May 21st, 2007 at 2:41 pm
It’s pretty well known that many doctors don’t take women as seriously as men when it comes to heart disease. This is just one more example of that.
May 21st, 2007 at 3:57 pm
It looks like women aren’t the only ones not being treated right - the figures for African-Americans aren’t looking good either.
May 21st, 2007 at 4:09 pm
Drug therapy can be pretty risky itself. I’ve known people who had a lot of problems because of statins-so much that I think they were better off with high cholesterol.
May 21st, 2007 at 4:31 pm
If the AHA changed their cholesterol recommendations for women, they could’ve lowered it enough to make it look like women aren’t controlling their cholesterol enough.
May 21st, 2007 at 5:34 pm
I’m gonna get my cholesterol checked!
May 21st, 2007 at 6:57 pm
I didn’t know cholesterol caused high blood pressure, just strokes and heart attacks and stuff like that.
May 21st, 2007 at 7:40 pm
Second Mags. Gotta get checked.