PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - DuBroff, Robert
AU  - Malhotra, Aseem
AU  - de Lorgeril, Michel
TI  - Hit or miss: the new cholesterol targets
AID  - 10.1136/bmjebm-2020-111413
DP  - 2021 Dec 01
TA  - BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine
PG  - 271--278
VI  - 26
IP  - 6
4099  - http://ebm.bmj.com/content/26/6/271.short
4100  - http://ebm.bmj.com/content/26/6/271.full
SO  - BMJ EBM2021 Dec 01; 26
AB  - 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.