Episode 200: Please stop measuring all those cholesterol levels
In episode 200, James and Mike unveil the new BS Medicine Podcast. For their first topic they rant on and on about why most cholesterol measurements are pretty much a waste of time. We talk about how the breakpoints are arbitrary and lack any specific logic and that given the within-person variation, annual measurements really don’t have any value. At the end we brilliantly segue to a discussion on cranberry juice for UTIs.
Show notes
1) AACE Cholesterol Guidelines 
2) 2012 update of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of dyslipidemia for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in the adult
3) The SANDS Randomised Trial
4) Monitoring cholesterol levels: Measurement Error or True Change?
Ann Intern Med 2008;148:656-61
5) Do you need to know cholesterol to assess risk?
Arch Intern Med 2012;172:1766-8
5) When to remeasure cardiovascular risk in untreated people at low and intermediate risk:observational study
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