Making Best Practice, Every Day Practice
The British Heart Foundation is pressing for a renewed focus on improving the diagnosis and management of familial hypercholesterolaemia, and adoption of a nationwide cascade screening programme for first-degree relatives. The article includes best practice tips for busy primary healthcare professionals.
The European Atherosclerosis Society has conducted a survey to assess the general public’s understanding of cholesterol. Professor Mike Kirby summarizes the survey findings and highlights the importance of a clear and constant focus on the JBS3 2014 consensus recommendations.
Two injectable antibody-based therapies inhibiting the activity of PCSK9 – alirocumab and evolucumab – have recently been licensed. This paper reviews the current status of lipid management, the actions of PCSK9, and the clinical trial results achieved with PCSK9 inhibitors in early studies.
Volume 4, Supplement 1, May-June 2007
The new NICE guideline enables us to individualise care bearing in mind the needs of the person in front of us. It is concerned with clinical efficacy, and – for once – the cost of care has not noticeably influenced its recommendations. In contrast, QOF does the exact opposite, demanding that we drive our patients’ HbA1c down to low […]
7.5 mmol/L) should prompt clinicians to think of familial hypercholesterolaemia. A family history of premature heart disease should further raise suspicion. This dominantly inherited genetic abnormality deserves as much attention as the oncogenes such as BRAC 1 and 2. HEART UK – The Cholesterol Charity – has provided editorial support and review of this sponsored FH series.This article was made possible by an unrestricted educational grant by Sanofi, who had no control over content.
Familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH)—an inherited genetic defect that causes high blood cholesterol—often goes unrecognised. It is therefore under-diagnosed and poorly managed. This can have devastating repercussions for affected families, since premature deaths from heart disease can occur in people in their 40s or even younger. This article looks at the causes of FH, how to recognise those at risk and how to implement National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance in practice.
Dealing with the complexity of lipid metabolism, its outcomes and modification can easily seem overwhelming for primary healthcare professionals. This article aims to help you understand the fundamentals using a back-to-basics approach designed to enhance your practical management of the most important risk factor for the development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The focus will be on the cholesterol-carrying lipoproteins LDL and HDL but we will also review important issues concerning the use of the total cholesterol to HDL ratio, the significance of triglycerides and the perennial question: ‘to fast or not to fast?’
Cardiovascular disease (CVD), including coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke, is the leading cause of mortality in the UK. In addition to the effect on quality of life, CHD imposes a huge annual burden with costs on healthcare relating to CHD estimated to be over £3.3 billion a year in the UK.1 Coupled with the obesity epidemic, costing the NHS an estimated £4.2 billion per year,2 this creates a huge burden upon healthcare resources. This article was sponsored by an educational grant from Alpro soya UK; however, the views expressed are the author’s own.
We have all seen paintings of early physicians looking at flasks of urine to give an indication of a person’s health. And most of us can remember days of rows of urine pots lined up to test for new patients in primary care and in hospital outpatient clinics. We may assume that those days have gone in the era of blood testing and CT scans. So why are we suggesting that urine testing has a central role in finding patients with previously undiagnosed cardiovascular disease?
In the last two issues of BJPCN, we have provided you with the scientific evidence for the Ultimate Cholesterol Lowering Plan (UCLP) and how its impressive cholesterol-lowering impact can help save lives from coronary heart disease and reduce the £3.3 billion financial burden to the NHS.1 In this issue, we discuss how you can apply the UCLP in your day-to-day practice to bring about clinically significant cholesterol-lowering results for all your patients.
Part 1 explained how powerful a diet can be in lowering low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) and reducing cardiovascular risk published in BJPCN 2011;8:36-8. Part 2 will focus on the practical step-by-step approach of the Ultimate Cholesterol-Lowering Plan (UCLP) by introducing an alternative consultation technique and detailing the core food elements of the UCLP.1-7 The UCLP includes a number of key strategies each scientifically proven to provide a dose-response effect to cholesterol reduction or cardiovascular risk.
A unique new e-platform for primary care
By continuing to this site you are confirming that you are a healthcare professional and are opting into the use of cookies.
