Regular Cholesterol Testing Decreases repeat Heart Attacks and Strokes

Following a heart attack or stroke, some patients forget to get regular periodic re-tests for bad cholesterol. Failure to test cholesterol is the most likely reason for blocked arteries in the first place. There is nothing more preventative for cardio-vascular episodes than pre-emptive testing. Early testing equal early treatment. 52% of heart attacks have no warning signs at all. The patient just passes away. This leaves 48% of the heart attack victims which do get warning signs like chest, arm or neck pain.

Once a patient experiences a cardio-vascular incident, follow up testing is mandatory to prevent recurrence; so say scientists at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City; one of the largest and best groups in the country. They found a preponderance of poor outcomes including a recurrence of stroke, heart attack and surgery or angioplasty in patients that failed to get re-tested and follow-up LDL cholesterol blood work. LDL is the fraction of cholesterol that is labeled “bad” by all healthcare professionals and that which cause arteries to clog and create heart and blood vessel problems, including stroke. Physicians and pharmacists always recommend cholesterol lowering drugs following a cardio-vascular incident in order to lower incidence of more incidents of problems.

The Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute is a large group of 1,600 physicians, 22 hospitals and over 180 clinics. This enormous study of 62,000 patients was conducted from data of patients that presented with first time heart attacks or strokes between January 1, 1999, and December 31, 2013. This 14-year study only included those patients which survived for 3 or more years and looked at histories, medications, and blood work, especially LDL. Patient demographic was 65% male at an average age of 66 years old; 69% with heart disease, 18.6% with stroke, and 12% with peripheral vascular disease.

The researchers measured a three-year death rate of 21% for those who did not get testing following their initial incident vs only 5.9% with those who did said Dr. Knowlton, head of the study. He will be presenting his findings to the American Heart Association in November.

The research team included: Heidi T. May, PhD, MSPH; Tami L. Blair, BS; Jeffrey L. Anderson, MD; Donald L. Lappe, MD; Joseph B. Muhlestein, MD. Together they found the risk of a patient having a secondary event or dying decreased in those who had a follow-up LDL test before a subsequent adverse outcome or before the end of their follow-up. Dr. Knowlton states that the study just reiterates how vital it is to get cholesterol checked periodically in order to avoid recurrence of problems. He believes that both doctors and patients need to be strongly encouraged on a regular basis to check cholesterol no matter how good the patient feels.