Cardiovascular Disease - Lipids

Changes/additions to materials:

MeReC Stop Press on NICE Clinical Guideline 67. 

NICE issued guidance on CV risk assessment and lipid modification in June 2008. The important changes are discussed in the MeReC Stop Press, which should be read in conjunction with the materials in this room of NPCi.

MHRA advice re fibrates - Drug Safety Update Vol 1, Issue 4. 4th. November 2007

The MHRA has issued revised advice to prescribers concerning the place in therapy of fibrates:
"Fibrates should be used as first-line therapy only in patients with isolated severe hypertriglyceridaemia. In patients who also have raised cholesterol, fibrates may be considered only when a statin or other effective treatments are contraindicated or not tolerated".

This is discussed in a MeReC Stop Press, which should be read in conjunction with the materials in this room of NPCi.

Note that some of the materials apply the black triangle (▼) to rosuvastatin. This was correct at their time of publication but the black triangle was removed by the MHRA in June 2007

A guide to the support materials for this topic is available in the library.

Cardiovascular Disease - Lipids Patient Decision Aid

The patient decision aids on NPCi have been developed to help guide difficult decisions in which patients need to consider benefits versus risks. Decision aids prepare patients for decision making by increasing their knowledge about expected outcomes and personal values.

These documents are based on the best available evidence but are not a substitute for a discussion with a suitably skilled healthcare professional. Wherever possible we have used a simple pictorial format. We hope that their use in such discussions will result in better informed, patient-focussed decision making.

You can either choose to view the decision aid on the screen by clicking the 'flash' version or you can download and print a copy by clicking the 'PDF' version.