Carotid neck ultrasound the only way to check regression of heart blockages

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INVC,,

Delhi,,

In people with type 2 diabetes, intensive drug therapy can significantly lower bad LDL cholesterol and reduce the thickness of the neck carotid arteries supplying oxygen to the brain, said Padma Shri & Dr. B.C. Roy National Awardee, Dr. KK Aggarwal, President, Heart Care Foundation of India.

He was interacting with the public at the Heart Care Foundation of India stall in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare pavilion at the IITF, Pragati Maidan.

Quoting a study published in Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Dr Aggarwal said that every effort should be made to bring down the bad LDL cholesterol to less than 80mg/dL.

The Stop Atherosclerosis in Native Diabetics Study (SANDS) trial tested the value of aggressively lowering bad LDL cholesterol to 70 mg/dL or lower, and non HDL cholesterol to 100 mg/dL.

The standard treatment group had standard goals (100 mg/dL for LDL and less than 130 mg/dL for non HDL Cholesterol).

The study involved 427 type 2 diabetic Native Americans who were aged 40 or older and who had no history of heart attack or other heart-related event. There were 204 people in the standard treatment group and 223 in the aggressive treatment group. Ultrasound tests showed that neck artery thickness got worse, or progressed, in the standard treatment group and regressed in the aggressive treatment groups.

The test called intima media thickness of the carotids is the only cost-effective test to know whether or not the heart blockages are shrinking or progressing as the thickening in carotids goes hand in hand with the thickening in the heart arteries.

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