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| |  Under-treatment of High Cholesterol in Elderly Serious Health Problem WASHINGTON, DC -- May 18, 2000 -- More than half of older Americans diagnosed with elevated cholesterol did not receive the statin therapy that is widely recognized as the most effective treatment for this potentially life-threatening condition, reports a new study from the Alliance for Aging Research. The Alliance study is evidence of serious under-treatment of many older Americans compared to federal benchmarks. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services program, Healthy People 2000, recommends that at least 75 percent of patients diagnosed with high cholesterol should receive diet and drug therapy, compared to the 45 percent shown in today's study. The study, underwritten with an educational grant from Bayer Corporation, also found that only 20 percent of older Americans with heart disease were prescribed treatments for lowering their cholesterol levels. Statins, the agents given to more than 85 percent of cholesterol patients who do receive drug treatment, have been proven highly effective in lowering Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL), the most dangerous form of cholesterol. These findings are alarming, because older Americans are the fastest growing portion of the population and have the highest rate of coronary heart disease (CHD), which is directly affected by cholesterol levels. May is Older Americans Month, a time to highlight the elderly population and the health issues they face. "This is a clear example of too many older Americans being inadequately served in the health care arena," asserted Daniel Perry, executive director of the Alliance for Aging Research. "Cardiovascular disease will cause more deaths than any other condition. Health care for older people should aggressively aim to lower their risk of heart attack and stroke." The results stem from a national four-year retrospective study of 75,000 office-based physician visits conducted by the research group Project HOPE on behalf of the Alliance for Aging Research. A second, companion, study funded by the Alliance was conducted among 1,000 elderly post-heart attack patients and 250 physicians and focused on cholesterol awareness, post-heart attack experience and treatment practices. Under-treatment with statin drugs has developed despite the fact that older Americans have more CHD than any other age group and suffer more coronary events, such as heart attacks and stroke. Ironically, very few clinical trials focus on the elderly population -- people aged 65 and older -- and many cardiac-related trials are performed only on patients between the ages of 45-65, which means that physicians do not have evidence to support their prescribing habits for older people. "It has clearly been established that cholesterol lowering treatment can prolong life and dramatically reduce the risk of having a primary or secondary cardiovascular event," confirmed noted geriatrician Dr. William Hazzard of University of Washington School of Medicine, who helped release the Alliance study. "However, a revision of current medical guidelines based upon studies conducted on older people to specifically address elderly and post-heart attack patients would help ensure that physicians actually prescribe these much needed therapies to high-risk patient populations." Eighty-eight percent of physicians surveyed about older patients at risk to cardiovascular diseases stated they would welcome more clinical evidence to support use of statins in the elderly, as well as clearer guidelines in treatment of this patient population. Additional key findings from the studies are: * Non-white patients with hypercholesterolemia were significantly less likely to receive statin therapy than white patients (29 percent vs 43 percent) even though their risk of heart disease is higher. * Almost half the Older Americans surveyed did not know their cholesterol level despite claiming to understand their cholesterol levels should be monitored, and claiming to be aware of the proper steps for cholesterol reduction. Only 12 percent knew their LDL level. * Older Americans were even more vague about the specifics of their cholesterol: More than 40 percent don't understand the definitions of LDL ("bad") and HDL ("good") forms of cholesterol. In a patient population that has already suffered at least one heart attack, this lack of knowledge is not encouraging. "Our study presents important but disturbing information about the health risks being faced by older Americans," Perry noted. "Much more needs to be done to educate older patients and physicians alike about the importance of controlling cholesterol levels. Unless we take such steps, we face having many older Americans needlessly dying or suffering with disabilities, developments that otherwise could have been prevented with proper treatment." The independent, not-for-profit Alliance for Aging Research was founded in 1986 to promote medical research into human aging. The Alliance has since become the nation's leading citizen advocacy organization for improving the health and independence of older Americans through public and private research.
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