The three major modifiable coronary risk factors are smoking, hypertension, and hypercholesterolaemia. Serum cholesterol levels are above the desirable level of 5.2 mmol/l in 79% of men and 65% of women aged between 35 and 50 years and thus are an important target for intervention. In this paper, the role of nonpharmacological intervention with soluble fibre in treating mild to moderate primary...

Background Hypercholesterolaemia is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Treatment with HMG coenzyme A reductase inhibitors (statins) had been proven to reduce the risk. Due to high prevalence of hypercholesterolaemia, statins consumption is high. Statins available in Malaysia include atorvastatin, lovastatin, pravastatin, rosuvastatin, simvastatin and fluvastatin. All except one (f...

We report the case of a 34-year-old man with extreme hypertriglyceridaemia (276.6 mmol/l) that was corrected by diet and triple-drug therapy. No primary defect could be found despite an intensive biochemical and genetic evaluation. Early in the time course of triglyceride-lowering therapy, the composition and concentration of different lipoprotein species changed markedly. His lipoprotein profi...

In heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia the cumulative risk of a fatal or non-fatal coronary event by the age of 60 without effective treatment is at least 50% in men and about 30% in women. 2 The prognosis has improved substantially with widespread use of statins for lipid lowering. The estimated occurrence of the condition is about 1 in 500. We aimed to determine the prevalence of diag...

BACKGROUND: With the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) the outlook of HIV/AIDS has changed from a killer disease to a treatable chronic infectious one. However HAART is associated with some metabolic disorders some of which are now being seen in people living with HIV/ AIDS (PLWHA) accessing care from our centre. OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence and pattern of d...

A novel LDL-receptor gene variant was found responsible for previously undetected familial hypercholesterolaemia and acute myocardial infarction in a young man.

BACKGROUND Familial hypercholesterolaemia is a common autosomal-dominant disorder caused by mutations in three known genes. DNA-based cascade testing is recommended by UK guidelines to identify affected relatives; however, about 60% of patients are mutation-negative. We assessed the hypothesis that familial hypercholesterolaemia can also be caused by an accumulation of common small-effect LDL-C...

Hypercholesterolaemia contributes to atherosclerosis and coronary artery diseases by inducing endothelial cell injury and dysfunction. Recent studies have provided increasing evidence that EPCs (endothelial progenitor cells) participate in ongoing endothelial repair and postnatal neovascularization. However, the changes in EPCs in patients with hypercholesterolaemia have not been elucidated to ...