FACT SHEET:  CHOLESTEROL & HEART DISEASE FACTS

About Cholesterol

• Cholesterol is a soft, waxy substance found in the bloodstream and in the body’s cells. Elevated cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease.
• Total cholesterol is made up of three “classes”—low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL)
• LDL is known as the “bad” cholesterol because too much LDL (>100 mg/dL) increases the risk of heart disease.
• HDL is the protective form of cholesterol. HDL carries cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver, where it is passed from the body. High HDL (> 40 mg/dL) reduces the risk of a heart attack.
• Triglycerides are a form of fat that come from food and also are made in the body. People with elevated triglycerides often have high total cholesterol, high LDL, and low HDL.
• Routine cholesterol tests measure total cholesterol, HDL, and triglycerides. They also calculate, rather than directly measure, LDL cholesterol—a factor that is of growing concern to clinicians since these calculations can underestimate LDL by up to 20 percent.
• Nearly 105 million Americans age 20 and older (more than half the adult population) have elevated cholesterol and could benefit from treatment, such as weight loss, smoking cessation, exercise regimens, and medications.
• Physicians now have a growing array of effective therapy options for heart disease, including six classes of cholesterol-lowering drugs that may be used alone or in combination, depending upon a patient’s individual needs.
• In the Framingham Heart Study, 80 percent of patients who had heart attacks had routine cholesterol test results identical to those who did not experience a heart attack.
• Almost half of all heart attack sufferers have “normal” routine cholesterol test results and many exhibit no symptoms—highlighting the need for better cholesterol testing technology.

Heart Disease Facts

• Heart disease is caused by the narrowing or blockage of one or more coronary arteries, resulting in decreased blood supply to the heart.
• Heart disease affects 12.9 million Americans, divided almost equally between men and women.
• Coronary heart disease was responsible for one of every five deaths in 2002 (total of 656,000 deaths).
• Every 26 seconds, an American will suffer a coronary event, and about every minute someone will die from one.
• About 41 percent of the people who experience a heart attack will die from it.
• About 80 percent of heart disease deaths in people under age 65 occurs as a result of the first heart attack.
• In 2005, an estimated 700,000 Americans will have a new heart attack, and 500,000 will have a recurrent attack.
• Heart disease is the leading cause of premature, permanent disability in the U.S. work force, accounting for 19 percent of disability allowance by the Social Security Administration.
• The estimated direct and indirect cost of heart disease is $142.1 billion.
• There are genetic, environmental, and hereditary risk factors for heart disease, including ethnicity, age, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, tobacco use, diabetes, obesity, inactivity, poor nutrition, and menopause.
• An estimated 47 million U.S. residents have the metabolic syndrome—a dangerous precursor to diabetes characterized by high triglycerides, low HDL, and small, dense LDL—placing them at significantly increased risk for diabetes and heart disease.

Heart Disease—A Women’s Issue

• One of the biggest misperceptions in healthcare is that heart disease primarily affects men. Cardiovascular disease, however, has killed more women than men every year since 1984.
• Within one year of an initial heart attack, 38 percent of women will die, compared with 25 percent of men. This higher death rate may be due to the differences in care women receive, as well as the fact that women develop heart disease later in life. Diagnosis and treatment often are delayed because of a lack of awareness about heart disease in women.

The VAP™ (Vertical Auto Profile) Cholesterol Test

• Just as past technology advances allowed the breakdown of total cholesterol into HDL and LDL, the VAP Cholesterol Test measures basic cholesterol information, plus a range of cholesterol “subclasses” highlighted in National Cholesterol Education Program guidelines as emerging risk factors and secondary targets of therapy for heart disease.
• The VAP Test is the first accurate, easy-to-use, and affordable means to obtain a complete cholesterol profile and, allowing physicians to better assess heart disease risk and direct patient-specific therapy.
• The VAP Test is the first new cholesterol test in 30 years to be available nationwide through national and regional diagnostic laboratories.
• The VAP Test provides a more accurate, direct-measured LDL, which helps physicians establish target LDL goals for patients. It also helps doctors diagnose the metabolic syndrome.
• Based on the comprehensive cholesterol profile it provides, the VAP Test identifies a far greater number of patients at risk of heart disease than the routine cholesterol tests.
• The VAP Test is reimbursed by Medicare and most insurance carriers.

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