title: The 2013 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines on treating blood cholesterol and assessing cardiovascular risk: a busy practitioner's guide.
abstract: The 2013 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Guideline on the Treatment of Blood Cholesterol to Reduce Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Risk in Adults and Guideline on the Assessment of Cardiovascular Risk were released in mid-November 2013. This article explains the guidelines, the risk equations, and their derivations, and addresses criticisms so that practicing physicians may be more comfortable in using the guidelines and the risk equations to inform patients of their atherosclerotic cardiovascular risk and choices to reduce that risk. The article also addresses patient concerns about statin safety if lifestyle changes have been insufficient to reduce their risk.
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Bone Diseases, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Box 1055, New York, NY 10029, USA.
authors.forename: Arpeta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Mount Sinai Heart, Icahn School of Medicine, Box 1014, 1 Gustave Levy Place, New York, NY 10029-6574, USA. Electronic address: donald.smith@mssm.edu.
authors.forename: Donald A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000572:American Heart Association; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012955:Societies, Medical / Q000592:standards; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors
keywords: 2013 ACC/AHA cholesterol guidelines; Blood cholesterol guideline; Cardiovascular risk guideline; Pooled cohort equations; Primary prevention of ASCVD; Statin therapy; Ten-year ASCVD risk