Cardiovascular Disease - Lipids

Changes/additions to materials:

Ezetimibe and cancer — reassuring data
As we have blogged, an analysis of post-marketing adverse event reports did not find any increased risk of cancer with ezetimibe▼ compared with statins, either alone or when taken in combination with simvastatin. Although these data are reassuring, it would seem sensible to use ezetimibe▼ only with caution because there is no published evidence of its benefit on clinically important outcomes such as cardiovascular events and its long-term safety is unknown. Prescribers should continue to use evidence-based statins (e.g. simvastatin 40mg/day) first-line in most patients who require a lipid-lowering agent.

A MeReC Bulletin on lipid-modifying treatment is now available. It:

• addresses the similarities and differences between NICE guidance for people with and without type 2 diabetes
• provides clarification on NICE’s recommendations regarding thresholds for intensifying treatment
• discusses the evidence base for high-intensity statins, for rosuvastatin and for ezetimibe▼, the reliability of single cholesterol measurements, and the side effects of statins.

Cardiovascular Disease - Lipids Key Slides

View or download this PowerPoint presentation. You may find it useful in discussions about the therapeutics of lipids. Extensive notes for each slide are available in the word file.