Cholesterol busting UK
Dramatic drop thanks to statins – and cutting fats
CHOLESTEROL levels have fallen dramatically among Britons, a study reveals.
The UK was ranked 18th highest in the world for cholesterol 40 years ago.
Now British men come 106th on the list – and women 130th.
Experts say less saturated fat in our diets and the treatment of high cholesterol with statins are behind the falls. High cholesterol – a marker for developing heart disease – currently affects six out of ten adults in England, with many unaware they have it. Cholesterol levels have fallen across the Western world.
But now countries in Asia are sufsaturated fering from rising levels, which can be caused by a high fat diet. However, the authors of the new research say the UK and other countries should not be complacent and could still benefit from further lowering cholesterol.
The waxy substance found in the blood is not necessarily harmful and is normally used to build healthy cells. There are two types – high density lipoprotein (HDL), or good cholesterol, and non-high density (non-HDL), which is bad.
Too much non-HDL can build-up in vessels, blocking the blood supply and causing strokes or heart attacks. High cholesterol is often caused by unhealthy diets high in and so-called trans fats, but can be lowered by taking statins. Lead author Professor Majid Ezzati, of Imperial College London, said: ‘For the first time, the highest levels of cholesterol are outside the Western world.
‘This suggests we now need to set into place throughout the world pricing and regulatory policies that shift diets from saturated to unsaturated fats and to prepare health systems to treat those in need with effective medicines.’
He added: ‘This will help save millions of deaths from high cholesterol in these regions.’
The study – the largest of its kind – was conducted by hundreds of researchers across the world.
It used data from over 100million people to examine cholesterol levels across 200 countries between 1980 and 2018.
It found high cholesterol levels were responsible for nearly four million deaths worldwide – half of them in South and South East Asia.
Researchers witnessed a ‘sharp’ fall in cholesterol levels across highincome countries such as those in north-west Europe, North America and Australia. But there was a rise in lower and middle income countries.
The major country with the highest level of bad cholesterol for men and women was Malaysia while Lesotho in Africa had the lowest.
The findings were published in the journal Nature.
‘Should not be complacent’