Guidelines for the Detection and Treatment of Elevated Serum Cholesterol: Which Is the Baby and Which Is the Bathwater?
Authors: Thomas A. Pearson
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1991)

Editorials15 August 1991Guidelines for the Detection and Treatment of Elevated Serum Cholesterol: Which Is the Baby and Which Is the Bathwater?Thomas A. Pearson, MD, PhDThomas A. Pearson, MD, PhDSearch for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-115-4-324 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptFew contemporary issues have drawn as much attention as the guidelines from the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Expert Panel on the Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (1). The clinician, meanwhile, finds himor herself trapped between two apparently opposing forces. One force is the formidable array of evidence proving the etiologic role of cholesterol in atherosclerotic coronary artery disease. This evidence has been greatly bolstered by the ever-increasing number of clinical trials, mostly in middle-aged white men, showing that cholesterol-lowering by diet or drugs can prevent not only the onset of coronary artery disease (2-4)...References1. Report of the National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel on the Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults. Arch Intern Med. 1988;148:36-69. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. The Lipid Research Clinics Coronary Primary Prevention Trial Results. I. Reduction in incidence of coronary heart disease. JAMA. 1984;251:351-64. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. FrickEloHaapaHeinonenHeinsalmiHelo MOKOPP. Helsinki Heart Study: primary prevention trial with gemfibrozil in middle-aged men with dyslipidemia: safety of treatment, changes in risk factors, and incidence of coronary heart disease. N Engl J Med. 1987;317:1237-45. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. HjermannHolmeLeren IIP. 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The Conclusions of the Canadian Task Force on the Periodic Health Examination: hypercholesterolemia. Google Scholar19. CarletonDwyerFinbergFloraGoodmanGrundy RJLJDS. Report of the Expert Panel on Population Strategies for Blood Cholesterol Reduction. Circulation. 1991;83:2154-232. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar20. BurkeSprafkaFolsomHahnLuepkerBlackburn GJALRH. Trends in serum cholesterol levels from 1980 to 1987. The Minnesota Heart Survey. N Engl J Med. 1991;324:941-6. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar This content is PDF only. To continue reading please click on the PDF icon. Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Thomas A. Pearson, MD, PhDAffiliations: M.I. Bassett Hospital Cooperstown, NY 13326 PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics Cited byAssessment of Delivery of Preventive Health ServicesModifying serum lipids to prevent coronary heart disease: Do we have a consensus?Who should treat familial hypercholesterolemia?The independent roles of diet and serum lipids in the 20th-century rise and decline of coronary heart disease mortality 15 August 1991Volume 115, Issue 4Page: 324-326KeywordsBloodCholesterolClinical trialsDietDrugsHypercholesterolemiaStable coronary artery diseaseTreatment guidelines ePublished: 1 December 2008 Issue Published: 15 August 1991 PDF downloadLoading ...