How to Prevent and Manage Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease is in our genes—my dad was 60 when he died after suffering from stroke and bed ridden for three years, my mom had two mild strokes and luckily she survived, my brother and I are both hypertensive. This disease really scares me, but with proper knowledge on cardiovascular management, I know, many lives can be saved.

I believe that in order to find the key to prevent and predict devastating health events like a heart attack, we need to find the right connection. It is with great happiness to know that Zuellig Pharma Corporation and Amgen Phililippines Inc. united to help improve awareness of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), to educate people on how to manage and prevent the disease. 

According to Dr. Lourdes Ella Santos, Adult Cardiologist and Clinical Lipidologist, Dyslipidemia is an abnormality in cholesterol. Cholesterol is made up of components. When you get your blood test, and you see in the lipid profile total cholesterol, understand that total cholesterol is made up of three components: 

• HDL Cholesterol (Good cholesterol), it protects you from heart attack or stroke. The higher your HDL is, the higher your good cholesterol is, the lesser the chance that you will develop a stroke or heart attack. We get good cholesterol from fatty fish like salmon and milkfish belly fat, and nuts like almonds & walnuts.
• Triglycerides, get converted to sugar that we don't really like. We get it from carbohydrates (e.g. white rice, white bread, white pasta, white potato; dessert, ice cream, iced tea, coffee, soda). We don't like it to get elevated, because the higher the triglycerides, the greater the risk that you will become insulin resistant or diabetic.
• LDL-C (Bad Cholesterol), which Dr. Santos wants us and her fellows during training to remember bad cholesterol as "Lechon de Leche" (roasted suckling pig). This is the fats that we get from animal supplements—beef, pork, and processed oil (fried foods). If LDL elevates it may block our veins. If there's a blockage of the flow of blood to our heart it is a heart attack, if it's arterial blockage in our brain that may lead stroke, and if it's blood flow in our limbs it's called Peripheral Arterial Disease (experiencing leg cramps or leg pains with just short walks). But the underlying reason of heart attack and stroke is just the same—blockage of the arteries caused by LDL Cholesterol. 

Remember, if any of the components elevates, your total cholesterol elevates as well. We do not treat Total Cholesterol, because we need good cholesterol, we only treat high LDL and high triglycerides. When we talk about Dyslipidemia, it means elevated Total cholesterol, LDL Triglyceride, or low HDL. So, if you're a patient with low HDL, even if your Total Choleterol is not elevated, you're Dyslipidimic. If you have dyslipidemia, it is identified as a high risk factor to a heart attack or stroke. If these risk factors are treated, there's a lower chance of a heart attack or stroke.

When we talk about Cardiovascular Disease we know that  its still the leading global cause of death. It claims more lives than any form of cancer combined. It's so important for us to know the cause of Cardiovascular Disease, and Dyslipidemia is one of them. 

Per year, 17.3 million deaths are seen globally attributed to Cardiovascular Disease. And, it comes for more deaths not just in our part of the world, but all over. According to a study in Southeast Asia, Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD) and Ischemic Stroke has a high percentage which contributes mostly to what contributes Cardiovascular Disease in our part of the world. Ischemic means blockage in arteries (bara sa ugat), if in brain it's called stroke, if blockage of arteries in the heart it's called Coronary Heart Disease or Coronary Artery Disease. All these because of one of the risk factors, Dyslipidemia. It affects all parts of the world where Ischemic Heart Disease and Ischemic Stroke has become more prevalent all over the world because one of the risk factors is Dyslipidemia. 

If you already had a heart attack, Myocardial Infection, every year that passes you see an increase in risk for a recurrent event (can be a Stroke, Peripheral Arterial Disease, or another Heart Attack). Just because that you had a heart attack means that your risk is higher than anyone else who hasn't had a heart attack. 

Is eating 3 whole eggs a day good to replace meals?

"I want you to understand that in medicine now, we practice evidence based medicine. It means that there's a fact behind it. The only clinical trial that has been done on eggs was in New York. If you're going to ask me if eggs are healthy, if you live in New York and the eggs you eat are from New York, I will tell you what was said in New York. Because we don't have clinical ttial evidence, we only eggs whites are healthy. In fact, in cancer patients delibitated, we recommend 6 to 8 eggs a day. Depending how you want it cooked—boiled, raw, mixed with oatmeal, no problem. But, it is the egg yolks that causes problems. When we talk about health benefits of eggs, we know feom history that egg yolks may actually increase LDL-C. Again, not founded on exact science. Egg yolk is also healthy. It has a lot of vitamins, so because of it, it can also be taken. As, as rule of thumb, patients ask me, three eggs a week is probobly not harmful," answered Dr. Santos.

In the Philippines, there are over 130,000 deaths related to Cardiovascular disease in 2016. CVD is a complex disease with many risk factors that affects how it develops. Family support and connections are key to helping patients impacted by health challenges. When equipped with more information about cardiovascular disease such as hyperlipidemia, family members can help patients take action to prevent health risks and overcome their conditions better.

The standard treatment for lowering LDL-C are statins, but there are cases when statins are not enough. Having access to new and innovative treatments in the management of dyslipidemia can make a difference for patients who are not able to achieve their lipid goals with statin alone. 

With the patient at the heart of what we do, Amgen Philippines Inc. and Zuellig Pharma Corporation are committed to improving the lives of patients struggling with dyslipidemia by helping them and their families to take the necessary action to prevent and manage their health risks.