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Prioritizing Health | Talking to Patients About ‘Bad Cholesterol’
September is Cholesterol Awareness Month and an opportunity to talk with patients about ways to manage their cholesterol and reduce their risks of worsening heart disease. Patients should be encouraged to ask questions and work with you to develop shared goals for lowering LDL-C and cardiovascular risk.
In addition, it's important for clinicians to specifically ask about any concerns patients may have with their treatment plan, including any issues with medications, being physically active, or getting to and from a health visit.
A review of prescription and over-the-counter medications should also occur at each visit.
Good News For Patients With Overweight or Obesity?
Newly released results from the randomized, double-blind SELECT trial show promise for reducing major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients who are overweight or obese with established cardiovascular disease and no history of diabetes.
SELECT included 17,604 patients (aged ≥45 years, BMI ≥27 kg/m2) from 41 countries who were randomized to receive subcutaneous once-weekly semaglutide 2.4 mg, a GLP1 receptor agonist, or placebo. Researchers evaluated the efficacy of semaglutide 2.4 mg as an adjunct to standard of care for prevention of MACE.
The study's primary endpoint was the composite outcome of the first occurrence of MACE defined as cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction or nonfatal stroke. All three components making up the primary endpoint contributed to the 20% MACE reduction exhibited in the semaglutide 2.4 mg treatment group. Over a period of up to five years, 1,270 first MACE events occurred.
Semaglutide also appeared to be safe and well-tolerated among SELECT trial patients, showing consistency with safety results from previous trials. Click here to read more.
Clinical Topics: Dyslipidemia, Lipid Metabolism, Nonstatins
Keywords: ACC Publications, Cardiology Magazine, Cardiovascular Diseases, Cholesterol, Body Mass Index, Myocardial Infarction, Obesity
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