Triglyceride concentration and coronary heart disease

Abstract

EDITOR,—We wish to respond to two letters concerning our paper.1 2 Despite the intuitive appeal of lowering triglyceride concentrations along with cholesterol concentrations when both are raised, there is no evidence that this strategy is more effective than targeting treatment at cholesterol alone. Even treatments that raise triglyceride concentrations reduce the risk of coronary heart disease in hypercholesterolaemic subjects. In the Lipid Research Clinics coronary primary prevention trial, treatment with diet and cholestyramine resulted in a 19% reduction in the risk of coronary …