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Cholesterol

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Tredaptive: a new option in lipid management

Blood cholesterol levels play an important role in the development of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease (CVD), and the incidence of CVD is closely related to the concentration of the specific lipoproteins in the blood. In this article, we review the role of different lipoproteins and the mechanism of action and potential role of a new agent for lipid modification – Tredaptive.

Lipid Modification in Primary Prevention – Treatment not Target

The NICE lipid modification guideline, published in May this year, covered both primary and secondary prevention of CVD. This article will look briefly at the principles of this guideline in relation to primary prevention and then go further to highlight the key issues regarding statin prescribing for people established to be at high cardiovascular risk.

Lipid lowering as part of secondary prevention of CVD: doing it the nice way

All patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) should be offered drug treatment to reduce their cholesterol levels without waiting for the management of modifiable risk factors, recommends the latest guidance on lipid modification from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). The much-anticipated guideline finally puts to bed the ‘5 and 3’ or ‘4 and 2’ debate over cholesterol levels for primary and secondary prevention. In this article, we review what the guidance says about lipid lowering in secondary prevention.

Familial hypercholesterolaemia: caring for the one in 500 patients affected

Familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) is the commonest genetic disorder in people of European and Japanese descent, affecting about 1 in 500 people. It is characterised by high levels of total and LDL cholesterol and is the most important clinical syndrome leading to premature coronary heart disease (CHD). Despite huge advances in unravelling its complex pathophysiology and the effectiveness of modern treatments, awareness of the syndrome and its consequences remains low and affected individuals are still overlooked and denied the potential benefits of treatment.

The Keys to Optimising Lipid Management

Primary healthcare professionals have been set a series of challenges and dilemmas for the management of lipids in the updated Joint British Societies’ (JBS) guidelines for the prevention of cardiovascular disease (JBS2). In this article, we review the changes in emphasis of the new guidelines – teasing out how they can help to further reduce our patients’ risk of cardiovascular disease with tougher cholesterol targets than ever before, together with practical advice on how to achieve these targets.

The NICE Guidance On Statins – What’s New?

It would be easy to think that there was no more progress for statins to make. Since the publication of the landmark 4S study in the early 1990s, statins have become one of the most commonly prescribed drugs in the UK. But the recent publication of new NICE guidance on statins, and the second Joint British Societies guidance on cholesterol management for prevention of cardiovascular disease (JBS2) have changed the rules yet again. Under their recommendations, millions more patients become eligibile for statins to reduce their cholesterol.

Plant Sterols and Stanols: Further Options in Lowering Cholesterol

It is now 10 years since the introduction of the first cholesterol-lowering spread in the UK. There is now an expanding range of products including yoghurts, spreads and milk which include the active ingredients – plant sterols and stanols. With the increasing media focus and advertising spent on these so-called ‘functional food’ products, what advice should we be giving to our patients?

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