Management of hyperlipidemia in the elderly

Abstract

Serum cholesterol and triglyceride elevate with age until middle generation, and decline in old age. This change is partly accounted for by the change of endogenous sex hormones, especially in women. The incidence of dyslipidemia is not different between people of middle age and old age. However, the treatment is not the same in the two age groups. This is based on the idea that the impact of hyperlipidemia declines with age. There are some reports in which the significance of treatment of hyperlipidemia was examined: statin treatment appears beneficial for young-old people, while treatment of hyperlipidemia appears no longer beneficial for old-old people. Prospective study is needed before understanding the necessity of the treatment of hyperlipidemia in the old-old people.