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Triglycerides: risk factor or fellow traveler?

J S Forrester1

  • 1Division of Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California 90048, USA. forrester@cshs.org

Current Opinion in Cardiology
|September 28, 2001
PubMed

Insights

Serum triglyceride levels are increasingly recognized as an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease. New evidence clarifies their diagnostic value and informs triglyceride-lowering therapy strategies.

Area of Science:

  • Preventive Cardiology
  • Cardiovascular Risk Assessment
  • Lipid Metabolism

Background:

  • The role of serum triglycerides as an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD) remains a key unresolved issue in preventive cardiology.
  • Clarifying the diagnostic utility of triglyceride levels is crucial for clinical practice.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review current evidence on the importance of triglycerides as a risk factor for coronary heart disease.
  • To discuss the implications of recent lipid-lowering clinical trials.
  • To explore alternative triglyceride-lowering therapies based on new knowledge.

Main Methods:

  • Review of recent scientific evidence and clinical trial data.
  • Analysis of the association between serum triglyceride levels and coronary heart disease.
  • Evaluation of therapeutic strategies for lipid lowering.

Main Results:

  • Recent evidence substantially clarifies the role of triglycerides in CHD.
  • New data informs the diagnostic value of triglyceride levels.
  • Implications for lipid-lowering therapies are discussed.

Conclusions:

  • Serum triglyceride levels are an important independent risk factor for coronary heart disease.
  • Triglyceride levels hold diagnostic value in cardiovascular risk assessment.
  • Updated knowledge guides the selection of triglyceride-lowering therapies.

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