Heart disease risks go untreated worldwide: study

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Atherosclerosis, the arterial buildup
of fat and other deposits that leads to heart disease, is
undertreated around the world along with its underlying ills
such as obesity, a study said on Tuesday.

“This study shows a substantial gap between the recommended
guidelines for treatment of atherosclerosis and the care
patients actually receive,” said Deepak Bhatt, a cardiologist
at the Cleveland Clinic who led the study covering more than 40
countries.

“We’ve never had an accurate picture of the burden of
atherosclerosis around the world. This study begins to paint a
clearer picture,” he said.

The report said patients around the world with hardening of
the arteries got fewer cholesterol-lowering drugs such as
statins or blood thinners like aspirin than they needed.

Tobacco use, high blood pressure and excess weight also
were inadequately addressed, according to the study.

The researchers found that 39 percent of people with
atherosclerosis were overweight, more than 25 percent were
obese and more than 3 percent morbidly obese.

North America has the most severe weight problem, it said.

The study, published in this week’s Journal of the American
Medical Association, analyzed information on 67,888 people with
atherosclerosis as documented in the records of 5,473 doctors
in 44 countries.

“These data demonstrate a strikingly elevated degree of
obesity internationally as a critical cardiovascular risk
factor,” the study said.