Lipids: Common Risk, Extraordinary Care at Penn
Heart disease is the leading cause of death
in the United States. Over 500,000 Americans
die from heart disease every year.
Among the most common risk factors for heart
disease are cholesterol problems, often referred
to as “lipid disorders.” Lipid disorders
include high LDL (or “bad cholesterol”),
low HDL (or “good cholesterol”),
and high triglycerides. Lipid disorders often
require specialized treatment by experts familiar
with their management.
Penn offers the region’s largest and
most well known program for the diagnosis and
management of lipid disorders. The lipid disorders
program is part of a larger preventive cardiovascular
medicine program designed to benefit patients
who have existing heart or cardiovascular disease,
or who are at high risk of developing cardiovascular
disease.
This program offers a multidisciplinary approach
to help you assess, manage and reduce your risk
for heart disease and stroke. Using specially
designed tests and active medical management,
our team of physicians, nurses and health care
professionals accurately determine your risk
and guide you toward a medical program to reduce
your risk.
The Penn Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine
and Lipid Disorders Program is designed
to benefit patients who have existing heart
or cardiovascular disease, or who are at high
risk of cardiovascular disease due to:
- Family history of heart disease, stroke,
or cardiovascular disease
- High LDL cholesterol
- High triglycerides
- Low HDL cholesterol
- High blood pressure
- Diabetes, glucose intolerance, or “metabolic
syndrome”
- Obesity
Our services include:
- Detailed cardiovascular risk assessment
- Detailed analysis and diagnosis of lipid
disorders
- Expertise in the use of other blood tests
to identify persons at high risk for heart
disease and stroke
- Expertise in the use of non-invasive tests,
such as Electron Beam CT and Multislice CT
scanning for the determination of cardiovascular
risk
- In-depth personal nutrition counseling by
a registered dietician
- Review and consideration
of potential non-prescription therapies
- Comprehensive
individual programs designed to fit patient's
lifestyle
- Expert advice regarding the use
of lipid modifying medications when needed
- Access
to clinical trials of the newest agents for
lipid disorders and prevention of cardiovascular
disease
Penn’s Lipid Disorders Program is
available at two sites:
Penn
Presbyterian Medical Center:
Pennsylvania
Hospital:
Reviewed by: Daniel Rader,
MD, and Robert B.
Norris, MD
Date: October 2005
Daniel
J. Rader, MD, is an associate professor
of medicine, pathology, and pharmacology at the
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
He is also the director of Preventive Cardiovascular
Medicine and the Lipid Clinic and associate director
of the General Clinical Research Center. Dr.
Rader received his medical degree from the Medical
College of Pennsylvania and completed his internship
and residency in internal medicine at Yale-New
Haven Hospital. He was chief resident in internal
medicine at Yale.
Dr. Rader’s basic research laboratory
focuses on genetic and pharmacologic regulation
of lipoprotein metabolism and atherosclerosis.
He directs a translational research program focusing
on human genetics of lipid disorders and atherosclerosis,
and novel approaches to treatment of dyslipidemia
and regression of atherosclerosis.
Robert
Norris, MD, is clinical assistant professor
and attending physician at Pennsylvania Hospital.
He is also co-director of the Center for Cardiovascular
Health and Lipid Disorders at Pennsylvania Hospital,
and has special interests in HDL cholesterol,
and in the relationships between lipid abnormalities
and familial predisposition to coronary artery
disease.
Dr. Norris is an invasive and non-invasive cardiologist,
performing cardiac catheterizations as well as
echocardiograms and transesophogeal echocardiograms. He
received his medical degree from New York University
Medical School and completed his internship and
residency at the University of Washington Hospital.
He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology
and a member of the National Lipid Association.
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