Statement of the purpose
There is a significant difference in the proportion of cholesterol values greater than the mean of the control group between the 2-day, 4-day and 14-day heart attack patients.
Background
Heart attack cases have been associated with the level of cholesterol in a patient. Low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol concentration is factor that contributes to development of atherosclerosis, which causes cardiovascular diseases (Brown & Goldstein 1984). This implies that with a reduction in the level of HDL cholesterol in a patients’ blood, the higher the chance of atherosclerosis.
Conversely, an increase in the concentration of this cholesterol reduces the risk of a heart attack. Conducting of a heart disease therapy can be done by increasing the level of HDL-cholesterol. Therefore, some studies have correlated cholesterol with cardiovascular diseases.
Currently, heart attack therapy is associated with the understanding of cholesterol levels in a patient. Studies have demonstrated the significant differences relating to cholesterol levels in patients. The High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) has been found to be significantly low than the control groups (Valappil, Chaudhary, Praveenkumar, Gopalakrishnan & Girija, 2012).
Conversely, heart attack patients have been found to have a high level concentration of LDL cholesterol. This has led to some conclusions that these two kinds of cholesterol can be associated with the development of cardiovascular diseases. However, with varying results, no studies have put it confident that the level of cholesterol is significantly different in the heart attack patients and the control groups.
Study significance
The study will be vital in determining the significant difference between the level of cholesterol in heart attack patients and the control group. Last, the study will determine the significant difference basing on 2-day, 4-day and 14-day patients compared to the control group.
Description
A comparison study conducted by Valappil et al. (2012) revealed that reduced cholesterol in intracerebral hemorrhage patients was significantly higher than that of the control group, see table 1. Averagely, the total cholesterol was significantly different between the ICH patients and the control group. The results also showed that LDH cholesterol was low in ICH patients than the control group. This difference was significant, unlike, the difference in the level of HDL, which was proved insignificant.
Table 1: mean cholesterol level in ICH patients and the Control group
A study by Carroll et al. (2005) indicated that the level of cholesterol continues to decline. The study was conducted in the United States by comparing the data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys from 1988 to 2000. The average cholesterol decline was high in older people than younger people. The decline in HDL levels was insignificant, while that in LDL was significant. See fig. 1 and table 2.
Fig. 1. A reduction in cholesterol level for old and young people in the United States with time
Table 2: cholesterol reduction in older people (20 and older)
Methodology
The study will be conducted in the United States. The research design to be used will be a comparative study, which compares cholesterol levels in 30 heart attack patients and 30 patients without heart attacks. Patient used will be of the white race. Purposive sampling will be used to select the sample because with use of other sampling, it will be hard to get a heart attack patient. Data will be analyzed through graphs and tables, using percentages and mean.
Limitations
The study is limited to the white race in the United States. This will make it hard using the conclusions on the black race.
References
Brown, M., & Goldstein, J. L. (1984). How LDL receptors influence cholesterol and atherosclerosis. Sci Am, 251, 58–66.
Carroll, M.D., Lacher, D.A., Sorlie, P. D., Cleeman, J.I., Gordon, D.J., Wolz, M., Grundy, S. M., & Johnson, C.L. (2005). Trends in Serum Lipids and Lipoproteins of Adults, 1960-2002. JAMA, 294(14), 1773-81.
Valappil, A.A., Chaudhary, N.V., Praveenkumar, R., & Girija, S. A. (2012). Low Cholesterol as a Risk Factor for Primary Intracerebral Hemorrhahage: A case Control Study. Ann Indian Acad Neurol., 15(1), 19-22.