In the midst of government warning that the number of Filipinos with high cholesterol has been increasing to an alarming level, it was noted that the prevalence was higher in women compared to men.
This was revealed by Dr. Imelda Angeles-Agdeppa, assistant scientist at Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) during the 56th Philippine Association of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeons, Inc. (PATACSI) Foundation Day held on July 8 at Crowne Plaza Galleria.
Agdeppa said a latest survey conducted by FNRI in 2013 showed that females registered an increase of borderline cholesterol level of 51.4 percent compared to men, which is only about 41.5 percent.
She said they have no study to explain why the cholesterol level is higher in women than in men. However, she speculated it could be attributed to sedentary lifestyles among females.
In the same study, Agdeppa said the Bicol region registered the highest number of cases of people with borderline cholesterol level at 67.1 percent, compared to people from other regions of the country, followed by the National Capital Region (NCR) at 53.6 percent, and Cordilera Administrative Region (CAR) at 51.2 percent.
Agdeppa said, again, there are no studies to offer an explanation as to why these places in the Philippines have registered cases of people with borderline cholesterol than the others. “We do not know if the coconut milk or coconut products in the Bicol region can be associated with the high number of people with borderline cholesterol here,” she said.
She said that the survey is conducted only every five years by FNRI. However, since 1998, the number of cases of Filipino people with borderline cholesterol was only four percent and has increased to 18.6 percent based on the result of their latest 8th National Nutrition Survey in 2013.
“This is quite alarming and we need to make the people aware of the situation and we need to do something about it,” she added.
Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that’s found in all cells of the body that is needed to make hormones, vitamin D and substances that help people digest foods.
Cholesterol travels through your bloodstream in small packages called lipoproteins (lip-o-PRO-teens). These packages are made of fat (lipid) on the inside and proteins on the outside.
Two kinds of lipoproteins carry cholesterol throughout your body: low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and high-density lipoproteins (HDL). Having healthy levels of both types of lipoproteins is important.
LDL cholesterol sometimes is called “bad” cholesterol. A high LDL level leads to a buildup of cholesterol in your arteries.
HDL cholesterol sometimes is called “good” cholesterol. This is because it carries cholesterol from other parts of your body back to your liver. Your liver removes the cholesterol from your body.
Agdeppa said that a switch to proper or more active lifestyle and right dietary choices are the key to combat this situation. She added that prevalence has spiked to an alarming rate of one in two Filipino adults suffering from this health condition. She said that borderline cholesterol problem starts to increase among Filipino people in their 20’s and starts to becomes more prevalent among the Filipino adults when they reach their 40’s and even higher in their midlife.
In the same survey, about 51.5 percent of adults have already been suffering from borderline cholesterol for people at the age of 40 to 49 with the highest of 61.9 percent for people with ages of 50 to 59 years old. This number has slightly decreased for people between the age of 60 to 69 at 58.9 percent, and even lower to people in their 70s at 57.5 percent when the older people are more cautious in their dietary concerns.
Stress is also one of the top factors to the increase of the cholesterol levels, she said. Experts linked the high levels of cholesterol to the top non-communicable killers in the Philippines such as diabetes, hypertension, chronic cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Cardiovascular diseases alone have accounted for about 170,000 deaths in the Philippines each year, making it the leading cause of mortality among Filipinos, she said.
Clars Guerrero, marketing head of Beverages and Fruits of Del Monte said their company has joined the FNRI and members of PATACSI in an advocacy to address this situation, and responded to the government call to do something about this, by creating the “Heart Smart” Pineapple and Orange juice products with reducol content that could reduce the cholesterol levels. She said there were clinical studies that was conducted for eight weeks that showed the effectivity of these products in reducing the cholesterol levels among the people who were part of the test. Del Monte is a leading producer of pineapple and other food products in the country today.
David Peele, president of Avoca Inc. and makers of the Reducol said that this special ingredient of these two juices were made of fruits mostly extracted from soya beans. “Based on clinical studies, Reducol has been proven to be safe and effective in lowering cholesterol levels,” he said.