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Factors modifying the cardiovascular risk of patients attending a specialist lipid clinic

Lipids are fat particles in the blood. There are a number of types of such lipid particles, the most commonly recognised lipid is cholesterol. High levels of cholesterol are known to cause narrowing of blood vessels, particularly those providing blood to the heart. Eventually a build up of cholesterol and other lipids can lead to a heart attack or other cardiovascular diseases (CVD) such as a stroke. However, not everyone with high levels of cholesterol will get a heart attack. The chances of a heart attack are due to a combination of factors, such as a family history of similar heart conditions, high blood pressure and diabetes. New treatments are becoming available for patients with abnormal levels of lipids. However, due to their high cost, not all patients will be able to get these treatments. We aim to examine the factors affecting the patients attending our lipid clinic so that we can identify the proportion of patients with a high risk of cardiovascular disease and therefore those who may be eligible for future treatments.