NLEC Sets Educational Agenda Members of the National Lipid Education Council™ gathered in Tucson, Arizona, in January with a focus on the NLEC curriculum for 2001.    Working within the framework of "Exploring the Continuum of CHD Risk," presenters and audience members alike explored both the established and the emerging uses of lipid-lowering therapies. Under the direction of NLEC chairman Antonio M. Gotto, Jr, MD, DPhil, the group examined the following areas, which will play a role in the council's educational initiatives for this year: the lifetime progression of atherosclerosis, including the influence of risk factors in the process effect of aggressive lipid lowering on acute coronary syndrome, including a recap of the recently completed MIRACL study a thorough examination of upcoming clinical trials that focus on lipid-lowering therapies the synergy of interventional and lipid-lowering therapies diets, both accepted and "fad," and their effect on heart disease risk the investigational role that statin treatment may play in conditions other than coronary heart disease (eg, Alzheimer's disease) Looking ahead to this year's initiatives, Dr Gotto explained that the NLEC will continue to build on its core activities (ie, monthly updates of the extensive slide kit, monthly additions to the website www.lipidhealth.org [including CME initiatives], and exhibition booths). He also reviewed the council's informational campaign to educate primary care physicians about the National Cholesterol Education Program's third Adult Treatment Panel (ATP-III) guidelines.    The NLEC's challenge this year is to interpret the ATP-III guidelines and disseminate them to practicing physicians in an easily applicable manner. "No matter how fine and how accurate they are," Dr Gotto noted, "the recommendations accomplish very little good unless they're put into practice."