LipidManagement™ is certified for CME credit. This issue includes a posttest that covers content from all four 2002 issues. PLEASE NOTE: Beginning in 2003, LipidManagement™ will offer 1 hour in category 1 credit toward the AMA Physician's Recognition Award FOR EACH OF THE QUARTERLY ISSUES. There will no longer be an end-of-year posttest covering all four issues. Readers can apply for CME credit quarterly beginning with the Spring 2003 issue. LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading the articles in this issue of LipidManagement™, participants should be able to: • Recognize the modifiable and nonmodifiable risk factors for stroke and determine the appropriate management for each one • Discuss the data from recent clinical trials regarding the role of cholesterol on stroke risk • Evaluate the use of alternative supplements in the treatment of elevated cholesterol levels Intended audience: primary-care physicians, cardiologists, endocrinologists Release date: December 15, 2002 End date: December 31, 2003 This CME activity is sponsored by Thomson Professional Postgraduate Services®, Secaucus, NJ.      Thomson Professional Postgraduate Services® is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.      Thomson Professional Postgraduate Services® designates this educational activity for a maximum of 2 hours in category 1 credit toward the AMA Physician's Recognition Award. Each physician should claim only those hours of credit that he/she actually spent in the activity.

HIGHLIGHTS from the American Heart Association Here are a few highlights from important presentations on lipids during this year’s AHA meeting: PROSPER (PROspective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk): Pravastatin lowered LDL-C by 34% in the elderly study population and reduced the incidence of primary end point (composite of coronary death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, and fatal/nonfatal stroke). CHD death and nonfatal MI risk was also reduced. Stroke risk was unaffected. In the study, pravastatin was shown to have no significant effect on cognitive function or disability. Presenter: Professor James Shepard, MD, Chairman and Lead Investigator, PROSPER Study Group Executive Committee Cholesterol Reduction and PAD: This double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled parallel-group trial studied the effect of atorvastatin on treadmill walking distance in patients with PAD. The study included 354 patients with claudication secondary to PAD randomized to either 10-mg or 80-mg atorvastatin daily or placebo for 12 months. Maximal walking time: There was a numerical but nonsignificant difference in MWT between atorvastatin treatment groups and placebo (90.1 seconds and 89.9 seconds with 10-mg and 80-mg doses of atorvastatin, respectively, compared with 50.3 seconds with placebo). Pain-free walking time: Improvement in PFWT was 61% in the atorvastatin 80-mg group, compared with 33% for placebo (P = 0.025). There was no significant difference in PFWT in the 10-mg group versus placebo. Presenter: Emile R Mohler III, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA LDL and HDL Particle Subclasses as Predictors in the Veteran Affairs HDL Intervention Trial: In this VA-HIT study, concentrations of LDL and HDL particles, as measured by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, are related to incident CV events, independently of conventional lipid measures. Although the clinical benefit of gemfibrozil treatment has been attributed mainly to increases in HDL, these NMR spectroscopy findings suggest that gemfibrozil-induced changes in LDL subclasses may also contribute to CV event reduction. Presenter: James Otvos, PhD, LipoScience Inc., Raleigh, NC More than 4,000 visitors collected educational materials and met staff members at the National Lipid Education Council™ booth during the recent American Heart Association and American Academy of Family Physicians annual meetings.