Innovative Center Established Promoting the Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases

The cooperation between Semmelweis University and Novartis Hungária has reached another milestone: an innovative Lipid Management Center has been established to promote the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, the university announced.

Semmelweis University, the Ministry of Innovation and Novartis Hungária Kft. signed a cooperation agreement in 2022, the three pillars of which are increasing access to clinical research and digitization, ensuring Hungary’s leading role in the field of cell and gene therapies, and launching a national cardiovascular public health program.

FactA significant proportion of cardiovascular diseases are caused by atherosclerosis. This group of diseases includes myocardial infarction and stroke. In Hungary, one in two deaths is due to atherosclerosis-related cardiovascular disease. By contrast, on average only one in three deaths in the European Union is attributable to this group of diseases, so Hungary is disproportionately affected in this respect.

There is considerable evidence that so-called ‘bad cholesterol,’ formally known as LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol, plays a key role in atherosclerosis. Elevated levels of LDL cholesterol cause the walls of blood vessels to narrow, leading to heart attacks and strokes. It is well known that effectively lowering cholesterol levels can prevent or even reverse the narrowing of blood vessels and thus prevent stroke or heart attack. LDL cholesterol levels are mainly influenced by hereditary (genetic) factors and lifestyle.

The Semmelweis Lipid Center was established as part of the collaboration, with a dual aim. The first objective consists of a data analysis. This involves mapping representative cholesterol levels in Hungary by region, gender, age subgroup and existing comorbidities.

The aim is to identify the patient groups most at risk of atherosclerosis.

In addition, by examining the LDL cholesterol levels of thousands of patients with heart attacks at the Heart and Vascular Center of Semmelweis University, they plan to identify correlations that could help them to implement new interventions to achieve the LDL cholesterol target set by international professional recommendations as soon as possible and as effectively as possible in the patient group concerned.

The prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases is essential, as these diseases affect one in five people in our country and cause around 60,000 deaths a year.

This also means that almost one in two deaths in this country is attributable to cardiovascular disease, compared to only one in three deaths in the EU.

“The second aim of the Semmelweis Lipid Center is to test the effectiveness of a novel, unique, complex approach targeting patients with proven coronary artery disease. At our center, we provide our patients not only with a combination of novel drug therapies, but also with personalized lifestyle, dietary and psychological counseling, based on a carefully designed protocol.

Our aim is to investigate to what extent this approach can reduce the incidence of calcification of the neck, legs and coronary arteries in two years’ time,”

emphasized Dr. Béla Merkely, Rector of Semmelweis University.

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Via semmelweis.hu, Featured image: Facebook/Novartis

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