Cholesterol Sufferers in Indonesia Reach 28 Percent, Starting to Attack Young People

JAKARTA – Cholesterol is a natural fatty substance found in the body that is necessary for healthy body functions, such as the formation of cell membranes and hormone production.

However, there is something called hypercholesterolemia or cholesterol high, where the level of cholesterol in the blood is too high.

There are two types of cholesterol in the blood, namely good cholesterol (HDL) and bad cholesterol (LDL).

Good cholesterol helps remove bad cholesterol from the blood, while bad cholesterol clogs arteries and causes serious health problems.

High cholesterol in the body increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. Bad cholesterol that builds up in the arteries causes narrowing of the arteries and increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

According to data from the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes), cholesterol sufferers in Indonesia are quite high, reaching 28% and as many as 7.9% of people in the world die from this disease.

Doctor Dr. Armand Achmadsyah from Abdi Waluyo Hospital revealed that cholesterol disease is not only suffered by the elderly, but is also experienced by many young people.

“Indeed, the statistics themselves do not only show elderly patients, there are even 24-year-olds whose cholesterol is already high,” said Dr. Armand Achmadsyah.

Based on BPJS Kesehatan data, the burden of financing non-communicable diseases reached IDR 24.1 trillion in 2022, and increased compared to 2021 at IDR 17.9 trillion.