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.