Research results from University of Pennsylvania update knowledge of hyperlipidemia.

According to recent research from the United States, "Physician treatment of cardiovascular risk factors may be affected by specific types of patient comorbidities. To examine the relationship between discordant comorbidities and LDL-cholesterol management in hypertensive patients not previously treated with lipid-lowering therapy; to determine whether the presence of cardiovascular (concordant) conditions mediates this relationship."

"We performed a retrospective cohort study of 1,935 hypertensive primary care patients (men > 45 years of age, women > 55 years of age) with documented elevated low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and no lipid-lowering therapy at baseline. The outcome was guideline-consistent hyperlipidemia management defined as optimal value on repeat LDL cholesterol testing or initiation of lipid-lowering therapy. Using generalized estimating equations (GEE), we examined the association of concordant and discordant comorbidities with guideline-consistent hyperlipidemia management over a 2-year follow-up period, adjusting for patient characteristics. Guideline-consistent hyperlipidemia management was achieved in 1,236 patients (64%). In the fully adjusted model, each additional discordant condition resulted in a 19% lower adjusted odds ratio of guideline-consistent hyperlipidemia management (p

The researchers concluded: "In this cohort of hypertensive primary care patients, the number of conditions discordant with cardiovascular risk was strongly negatively associated with ...