RESOLVING THE CHOLESTEROL CONTROVERSY

Name: RESOLVING THE CHOLESTEROL CONTROVERSY
Author: Gilbert R Thompson

The Scientists Who Proved the Lipid Hypothesis of Causation of Atherosclerosis and Coronary Heart Disease

Gilbert R Thompson

EPUB

ca. 84,99 €

World Scientific Publishing Company

Naturwissenschaften, Medizin, Informatik, Technik / Medizin

Beschreibung

Resolving the Cholesterol Controversy recounts the science and scientific personalities behind the chain of discoveries upon which the lipid hypothesis of atherosclerosis was built.

The narrative covers a period of just under 100 years, starting with Anitschkow's experiments with cholesterol-fed rabbits in 1913, and recounts the endeavours and achievements of the leading actors in this protracted scientific drama. The cast is drawn from an extraordinary variety of scientific disciplines: pathology, biophysics, epidemiology, nutrition, cardiology, lipidology, genetics, microbiology, pharmacology, and clinical trial design. Most of the scientists believed that cholesterol played a causal role in atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease, but there were some who dissented strongly from this conclusion.

The breadth of scientific disciplines involved in proving the lipid hypothesis is matched by the geographical spread of the participants. Anitschkow worked in Russia, Endo discovered the first statin in Japan, their commercial development by Merck took place in the USA and evidence of benefit from lowering cholesterol came from trials conducted in Scandinavia and the UK. The subsequent meta-analysis of these statin trials in 2005 proved the validity of the lipid hypothesis beyond any doubt. The history of how this all came about and its impact upon health policy and medical practice is recalled here in Resolving the Cholesterol Controversy.

Contents:

Introduction to the Lipid Hypothesis: The Role of Cholesterol in Atherosclerosis
The Cholesterol-Fed Rabbit, an Animal Model of Atherosclerosis (Nikolai Anitschkow)
The Discovery that Cholesterol is Transported by Lipoproteins in the Blood and their Centrifugal Analysis (John Gofman and Richard Havel)
The Framingham Study and Risk Factors for Coronary Heart Disease (Thomas Dawber and William Kannel)
The Seven Countries Study and the Role of Dietary Fat in Determining Cholesterol Levels in Populations (Ancel Keys)
Pros and Cons of Lowering Cholesterol (Michael Oliver)
The Classification of Disorders of Lipoprotein Metabolism (Donald Fredrickson and Robert Levy)
The Role of Sugar in Coronary Heart Disease (John Yudkin)
Cardiological Opponents of the Lipid Hypothesis (Sir John McMichael and J R Anthony Mitchell)
Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (Nicolas Myant)
Discovery of the LDL Receptor (Joseph Goldstein and Michael Brown)
The Role of Oxidised LDL in Atherosclerosis (Daniel Steinberg)
The Discovery of Lipoprotein (a) (Kåre Berg)
Discovery of ApoE Polymorphism and Its Role in Lipid Metabolismm (Gerd Utermann)
The Discovery of the First Statin (Akira Endo)
The Development of Statins for Clinical Use (P Roy Vagelos, Alfred Alberts and Jonathan Tobert)
The Statin Trials that Proved the Lipid Hypothesis (Terje Pedersen, James Shepherd and Sir Rory Collins)
Impact of the Lipid Hypothesis on the Science and Practice of Medicine
The Future of Clinical Lipidology

Readership: Postgraduates undertaking research into lipids and atherosclerosis. Clinicians running lipid clinics and cardiologists, pharmacologists, epidemiologists & nutritionists with an interest in lipidology.

Key Features:

The author is one of a rapidly dwindling generation who knew or met in their lifetimes most of those whose research helped prove the lipid hypothesis as well as those who opposed it. Many of those scientists are now deceased
The author participated in lipid research on both sides of the Atlantic during the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s, in Boston, Houston, Montreal and London

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