Dyslipidemia

The major goal in treatment of patients with dyslipidemia is to decrease the short- and long-term incidence of cardiovascular events, including myocardial infarction, unstable angina, stroke, and death. A second goal in patients with severe hypertriglyceridemia is to decrease the risk of acute pancreatitis. Improvement of the lipid profile can be achieved through a combination of aggressive lifestyle modification and effective drug therapy. Treatment should be tailored to the individual patient, based on the specific lipid abnormalities, the presence or absence of pre-existing coronary artery or other atherosclerotic vascular disease, and an assessment of overall cardiovascular risk.