Ataru Igarashi, a specially appointed associate professor at the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, the University of Tokyo, manages LDL (bad) cholesterol (LDL-C) in hypercholesterolemia patients in collaboration with Sanofi Co., Ltd., which develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceutical products. We conducted a survey on the effects of cholesterol caused by incompleteness on individuals and society.
The survey was conducted by a web questionnaire and a literature search targeting 40 men and women in their 60s and 1,246s living in Japan.
According to estimates by the Japanese Circulation Society, the number of patients with myocardial infarction among heart diseases is 6 per year. It is estimated that about 9,219 cases of heart disease (in this case, ischemic heart disease represented by angina and myocardial infarction) due to poor management of LDL-C occur annually, and the economic loss of society as a whole is estimated to exceed. The annual medical expenses for the acute phase are about 2.8 billion yen, and the annual productivity loss is about 569.4 billion yen, for a total of 1 billion yen.The productivity loss due to early death amounts to about 135.1 billion yen.
According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare "Health Japan XNUMX", hypercholesterolemia is a risk factor for ischemic heart disease, but before the onset of heart disease, hypercholesterolemia has no symptoms and is less recognized. It is said that it tends to be.
The study found that the number of men with heart disease onset increased sharply from the age of 10-40 in the predicted number of excess heart disease cases over the next 59 years in the population with high LDL-C levels.
In addition, among hypercholesterolemia patients, the number of patients who have developed heart disease is significantly higher than the number of patients who answered "reduced work / quit work" compared to patients who have never developed heart disease. It was big.
In addition, 17.4% of patients who have never had heart disease and 17.6% of those who have had heart disease said they "do not know" their LDL-C levels.
Associate Professor Igarashi, who was in charge of analyzing the survey results, said, "Since the effects of LDL-C are gradually accumulating, hypercholesterolemia patients can prevent heart disease by managing LDL-C levels on a daily basis. It is important for both individuals and society, "he emphasizes the importance of preventing the onset of heart disease in hypercholesterolemia patients.
