Hypercholesterolemia Treatment Falls Short of Guidelines
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, July 10, 2025 -- Pharmacologic treatment of hypercholesterolemia falls short of U.S. and European guidelines, according to a study published online June 30 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
G. Caleb Alexander, M.D., from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, and colleagues projected anticipated improvements in treatment and outcomes of hypercholesterolemia under full implementation of U.S. and European pharmacologic treatment recommendations in a study of 4,980 adults aged 40 to 75 years from the 2013 through March 2020 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The number of individuals eligible to receive versus currently receiving lipid-lowering therapy (LLT) was examined after applying the 2018 U.S. guideline, the 2019 European Union guideline, and the 2022 U.S. pathway.
The researchers found that 23 percent of the NHANES primary prevention cohort was currently using LLT compared with 47 percent eligible with the 2018 U.S. guideline/2022 U.S. pathway and 87 percent eligible with the 2019 EU guideline. For all therapies, the percentage with LLT use was significantly lower than the proportion of eligible patients. Based on the 2018 U.S. guideline, 2019 EU guideline, and 2022 U.S. pathway, the additional overall median reduction in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol expected under fully guideline-concordant care was 37.2, 48.5, and 46.8 mg/dL, respectively, potentially yielding a 21 to 27 percent relative reduction in the risk for major cardiovascular events.
"These results add to a growing body of evidence that there are important shortcomings in the quality of care for common and costly chronic diseases such as high cholesterol, and that addressing those shortcomings would yield major public health benefits," Alexander said in a statement.
Several authors disclosed ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Merck, which partially funded the study.
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted July 2025
Read this next
Weather Disasters Impacted Counties With More Than 60 Percent of Drug Production Facilities
FRIDAY, Aug. 22, 2025 -- More than 60 percent of drug production facilities were located in U.S. counties with at least one disaster declaration from 2019 to 2024, according to a...
Sensitive Personalities Tied to More Mental Health Conditions
FRIDAY, Aug. 22, 2025 -- People with sensitive personalities are more prone to common mental health problems such as agoraphobia and avoidant personality disorder, according to a...
Novel Biomarker Risk Prediction Models Examined in Chronic Kidney Disease
FRIDAY, Aug. 22, 2025 -- For adults with nondialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD), risk prediction models incorporating novel biomarkers show comparable discrimination to...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.