Selection of appropriate type and intensity of lipid-lowering therapy.

A wide consensus has been reached concerning the importance of lipid-lowering drug therapy in patients with dyslipidaemia with overt coronary heart disease. This consensus is also likely to be reflected in the more active treatment of other high-risk patient groups. The statin family of drugs has been tested in a large secondary prevention study, the Scandinavian Simvastatin Survival Study, and in angiographic trials. Their role in the treatment of hypercholesterolaemia and mixed hyperlipidaemia is increasing, whereas fibrates are increasingly limited to hypertriglyceridaemia.