What are lipid cutoffs for increased CVD risk in non-diabetic young people?

Korea: In nondiabetic young adults aged 20-39 years, even modest increase in lipid levels is tied to an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease (MI and stroke), a recent study in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology has shown. The data provides potential criteria for CVD risk stratification based on real-world evidence. 

There is no clarity on the relevance of blood lipid abnormalities to the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in young populations. Seung-Hwan Lee, Department of Medical Informatics, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea, and colleagues aimed to identify the cutoff levels of lipid parameters for increased risk of CVD among nondiabetic young adults aged 20–39 years.

For this purpose, the researchers followed-up 6 204 153 subjects who underwent health examinations between 2009 and 2012 until the end of 2018 using data from a nationally representative Korean National Health Insurance System database. Incident CVD, defined as a composite of myocardial infarction and stroke wasthe primary outcome. The associations between pre-specified lipid levels and CVD risk was assessed. Also, they conducted a subgroup analysis of the number of cardiovascular risk factors (obesity, hypertension, and current smoking).