According to Professor Catapano, it must also pay more attention to familial hypercholesterolemia, a genetic disorder characterized by high rates of bad cholesterol.One person in 250 suffers from this chronic disease, which increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
Even if the people who have high levels of bad cholesterol can have no symptoms, as headache, which affects people with a high blood pressure, many of them are living with the disease, yet dangerous, without their knowledge. At the same time, the treated people have often tended to be more relaxed when they take their drugs, because they do not suffer from more, has insisted the professor.
He added that the EU could play an important role in fight against the consequences induced by a chronic disease, as familial hypercholesterolemia.
"The EU has at its disposal several ways to manage the problems. It can at least start the discussions on these themes and show that there are funds available for research and implementation programs. The EU can invest in education, prevention and research related to chronic diseases ", he concluded.
Next steps
30 April : European congress on obesity
17 may : European Day of obesity
May 19-24 : World Health Assembly in Geneva (Switzerland)
Read about : chronic diseases invade Europe
