Holidays For Your Health
By Emma Norman
If you’re considering jet-setting off around the world, perhaps something you should ask yourself is: where’s the best place to be ill? However, if you’re planning on over indulging in the local delicacies, the answer is probably nowhere, because cholesterol is high on the agenda for doctors of all nationalities."It seems that if you're going to have high cholesterol, the best place to have it is Finland, France or Denmark."
In an international study that questioned doctors from ten different countries, 60% found it acceptable that only half of patients with high cholesterol manage to reduce it to their target levels.
There also appears to be considerable variation in steps taken to reduce patient cholesterol levels across the globe. It seems that if you’re going to have high cholesterol, the best place to have it is Finland, France or Denmark. Here doctors take a more natural approach towards cholesterol problems, preferring the good old fashioned change of lifestyle ‘get off your arse and eat more healthily’ approach, rather than relying on drugs.
If you favour the rather sunnier climes of Brazil, on the other hand, your doctor is quite likely to stuff you full of pills. Brazil has the highest percentage of doctors favouring prescription of statins (cholesterol reducing drugs) as the sole treatment (15%) followed by the UK, France and Mexico (11%).
Possibly the worst place to have high cholesterol is in South Korea where a whopping 80% of doctors are happy with the 47% success rate and where 9% are likely to recommend no course of action at all.
Try Emma's page for more top science. Or check out these:
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- Weirdo - Phunny phobias - the weekly column
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Image: Sanja Gjenero
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