What Is Dyslipidaemia?

Dyslipidaemia is a serious health condition characterised by abnormally high levels of fat in the bloodstream of sufferers. Regarded as a “silent disease”, dyslipidaemia does not show pronounced symptoms in the early stages, but can cause heart disease, strokes and other coronary complaints if left undiagnosed and untreated, making it a major threat to human life.

Concerningly, a recent report has found that the UAE is suffering something of an epidemic from the condition at the moment. The statistics show that almost three-quarters of the population suffer from the disease, with poor diet and inadequate exercise thought to be the chief culprit. Given that heart disease and strokes are the two biggest causes of premature death in the Emirates, the news that the majority of the population has dyslipidaemia is worrying but unsurprising.

A nationwide issue

The study, conducted by the University of Sharjah, examined the results of blood tests of 824 Emiratis from the northern part of the country. The results showed that 72.5% of those tested suffered from dyslipidaemia, while 42.8% displayed high levels of cholesterol, with 72.3% of subjects returning unfavourable results in terms of their ratio of total cholesterol to good cholesterol.

38.6% had alarming levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), also known as bad cholesterol, while 29% had high levels of triglycerides, which is a kind of fat that has been linked to heart disease. It’s thought that years of following an unhealthy diet, smoking regularly and drinking alcohol are triggers for the disease to emerge in older Emiratis, though it’s not yet known why younger subjects showed similar results.

Expats not exempt

Meanwhile, a follow-up study showed that ex-pats were even more susceptible to the disease than their native counterparts. 76% of non-Emiratis returned blood test results which displayed signs of dyslipidaemia. For context, the proportion of sufferers in the United States – a country often used as a high watermark for obesity-related conditions – is far lower, at just 53%.

Dr Ibrahim Mahmoud, one of the researchers behind the studies, believes lifestyle is the main contributing factor to his findings. “There are a lot of fast-food restaurants, food is cheap compared to the income of most of the population, and it’s very hot so the people usually they don’t do much physical activity,” he explained. “[Expats] work for long hours and eat fast food and junk food. That might be one of the reasons why they have very high prevalence.”

Change required

Since dyslipidaemia is a silent killer, it’s vital that people discover the existence of the disease in their bloodstream before it is allowed to incur irreversible effects. This means educating the population about the risks of the condition from an early age, as well as encouraging Emiratis to go for regular health check-ups to diagnose it at an early stage.

Of course, preventing the disease altogether is far preferable to treating it, which is why the authors of the report recommend taking steps to protect their heart. As well as obvious measures such as exercising regularly and following a healthy diet, lesser publicised precautions – such as brushing your teeth to reduce the risk of heart failure – can also be beneficial.

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