@article {DuBroffbmjebm-2020-111413, author = {Robert DuBroff and Aseem Malhotra and Michel de Lorgeril}, title = {Hit or miss: the new cholesterol targets}, elocation-id = {bmjebm-2020-111413}, year = {2020}, doi = {10.1136/bmjebm-2020-111413}, publisher = {Royal Society of Medicine}, abstract = {Drug treatment to reduce cholesterol to new target levels is now recommended in four moderate- to high-risk patient populations: patients who have already sustained a cardiovascular event, adult diabetic patients, individuals with low density lipoprotein cholesterol levels >=190 mg/dL and individuals with an estimated 10-year cardiovascular risk >=7.5\%. Achieving these cholesterol target levels did not confer any additional benefit in a systematic review of 35 randomised controlled trials. Recommending cholesterol lowering treatment based on estimated cardiovascular risk fails to identify many high-risk patients and may lead to unnecessary treatment of low-risk individuals. The negative results of numerous cholesterol lowering randomised controlled trials call into question the validity of using low density lipoprotein cholesterol as a surrogate target for the prevention of cardiovascular disease.}, issn = {2515-446X}, URL = {https://ebm.bmj.com/content/early/2020/08/23/bmjebm-2020-111413}, eprint = {https://ebm.bmj.com/content/early/2020/08/23/bmjebm-2020-111413.full.pdf}, journal = {BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine} }