Diagnosis and treatment of lipid disorders

A brief summary of the revised NCEP guidelines for the detection, evaluation, and treatment of high blood cholesterol levels in adults is presented. The major changes in the current guidelines are the inclusion of three categories of CHD risk, one for secondary prevention and two for primary prevention based upon a combination of LDL-c levels and the number of other risk factors. Age and gender are now considered in the determination of risk factors. There is more emphasis on the treatment of postmenopausal women and individuals 65 years of age or older and less emphasis on drug treatment in younger patients. HDL-c measurements are now routine in screening in the clinical setting and drugs that both lower LDL-c and increase HDL-c levels can be considered in high risk patients. According to the current guidelines, approximately 29% of the adult population should receive dietary therapy and approximately 7% may be candidates for drug therapy.