The Framingham risk score has been the primary method of determining a patient’s 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease. Scores such as this take into account a patient’s specific risk factors including age, gender, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol,...
Ezetimibe (Zetia) is a medication used to lower cholesterol. More specifically, this medication is used in clinical practice to lower LDL and help get patients to a target goal. If you recall from your pharmacology classes, ezetimibe inhibits the absorption of...
Statins are one of the most commonly prescribed medications to help reduce cholesterol and reduce the risk of cardiovascular events like heart attack and stroke. I’ve been asked the question a few different times about why we should choose a hydrophilic versus a...
In late 2018, ACC and AHA came out with an update to their cholesterol guidelines. The last update was from 2013 so PCSK-9 inhibitors hadn’t even been approved at that time. Very High Risk Patients – My Biggest Takeaway I always had a hard time knowing...
I’ve had a request to explain a couple of the most common drug/food interactions I see. There were two that immediately popped into my mind: 1. Statins(Zocor-simvastatin, Lipitor-atorvastatin, etc.) are some of the most widely used drugs in the US and there is...