Cholesterol guidelines update: More aggressive therapy for higher-risk patients
Julie C. Huang, MD
Preventive Cardiology Section, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Byron J. Hoogwerf, MD
Preventive Cardiology Section, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine; Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Address: Julie Huang, MD, Section of Preventive Cardiology, C51, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44195; email huangj1@ccf.org
Dr. Hoogwerf has indicated that he has received grant or research support from the Amylin and Eli Lilly corporations, serves as a consultant for the Astra Zeneca, Bayer, Eli Lilly, McNeil, Merck, Pfizer, Takeda, and Wyeth corporations, and is on the speaker’s bureaus of the Astra Zeneca, Aventis, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, King, Merck, Monarch, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Schering Plough, Takeda, and Wyeth corporations.
ABSTRACTThe 2004 update to the National Cholesterol Education Program guidelines goes farther than the 2001 version in suggesting an optional low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) goal of less than 70 mg/dL for patients at "very high risk." It recommends starting both diet and drug therapy in all patients at high or very high risk whose LDL-C level is above the goal level, with the goal of reducing LDL-C by 30% to 40%. These more aggressive guidelines are based on results of five clinical studies published since 2001.