In November, the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology released a set of four prevention guidelines covering the assessment of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk and the management of weight, cholesterol, and lifestyle. Much of the focus was placed on the cholesterol guideline, which singled out statins as the preferred agents for lowering LDL cholesterol and advocated the removal of hard treatment targets. Controversy surrounded the larger pool of patients deemed eligible for statin therapy and the new risk calculator, which was found to overestimate risk — and thus, place more people in the “treat” category. Much of this played out during the AHA’s annual meeting.
