Cholesterol lowering needs continued GP care
15th February 2011
By Rada Rouse
IT TAKES repeated GP visits over about five years to make an impact on patients’ elevated cholesterol, a report suggests.
Analysis of data on nearly 200,000 patients seen by 600 Australian GPs shows while total cholesterol levels remain higher than normal in over a third of patients, average levels have been declining since 2004.
The significance of a slight rise in lipids seen in 2009 is unclear, although it may have been “fed” by the fast-food industry’s boom in sales, researchers said.
The study, conducted by the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute and sponsored by statin