コレステロール値の早期改善、心臓発作や脳梗塞リスク下げる　研究

【パリＡＦＰ＝時事】コレステロール値が高い人が若いうちに治療を受けると、後年の心臓発作や脳梗塞のリスクが下がる可能性が明らかになった。4日、英医学誌ランセットに大規模な調査の結果が掲載された。（写真は資料写真）
　研究で判明したコレステロール値と病気の関連性についての新発見は「４５歳未満の人々において特に重要なものだろう」と論文は述べている。今回の研究は４０年以上にわたって患者約４０万人を対象とし、類似研究の中では「最も包括的」な報告と形容されている。
　要約によると、コレステロール値が同レベルで、さらに肥満や喫煙など心血管系の付加的リスクがある４５歳未満の男性は、７５歳までに致死性あるいは非致死性の心臓病や脳梗塞を発症する可能性が２９％だった。また女性では１６％だった。
　だが、スタチン（コレステロール低下薬）などを使用し、悪玉コレステロール値を半減できれば、男性のリスクは６％まで下がり、女性はわずか４％まで下がった。
　またこの研究により「早期に、そして集中的に、悪玉コレステロール値を減らす介入を行えば」、脂肪やカルシウム、コレステロールの蓄積により動脈の内側が狭くなるアテローム性動脈硬化症の「初期症状を回復させる可能性がある」ことが分かったという。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2019/12/05-09:15）

Treating younger people with high cholesterol levels may help reduce their risk of heart attack or stroke in later life, a major study showed Wednesday.
Described as the most comprehensive review of its kind covering almost 400,000 patients over more than 40 years, the study in The Lancet said its findings on the link between cholesterol levels and ill health may be particularly important in people under 45 years.
A summary said that starting with the same cholesterol level and additional cardiovascular risk factors -- such as obesity or smoking -- men under 45 years faced a 29 percent risk of fatal or non-fatal heart disease or stroke by the age of 75.
For women, the risk level was 16 percent.
However, if their non-HDL (i.e. bad) cholesterol levels were halved, typically by the use of statins, the men's risk came down to 6.0 percent and women fell to just 4.0 percent.
Additionally, the study showed that intervening early and intensively to reduce non-HDL cholesterol levels... could potentially reverse early signs of atherosclerosis -- the narrowing of the arteries caused by fat, calcium and cholesterol build-up.
HDL -- High Density Lipoprotein -- is often dubbed good cholesterol, helping clear fat from the bloodstream, in contrast with bad Low Density Lipoprotein.
Non-HDL cholesterol is arrived at by subtracting a person's HDL level from their total cholesterol number, and accordingly measures all the bad lipoproteins.
Commenting on the study, Jennifer Robinson of the University of Iowa said its long-term nature and size was important in pointing to the potential for early treatment.
It raised the possibility that those people with high non-HDL and LDL levels could be more at risk than suggested by the 10-year threshold currently used to determine if treatment is needed, Robinson noted.
Paul Leeson, professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Oxford said the issue of long-term medication would have to be addressed.
Exactly how to reduce cholesterol effectively in young people and, in particular, whether you would need to take drugs for decades to do this is not explored (in the study) but will be important to consider before these findings can be included into medical guidance, Leeson said in a commentary.