Endocrine Disorders Linked to Increased Heart Disease Risk

Adults with endocrine disorders have an increased risk of heart diseases, namely heart attack or stroke, stated a Clinical Practice Guideline issued today by the Endocrine Society. // The guideline, titled "Lipid Management in Patients with Endocrine Disorders: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline," will appear in the December 2020 print issue of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), a publication of the Endocrine Society.

The guideline provides a new approach to assessing and treating high cholesterol and triglycerides in patients with endocrine diseases like hypothyroidism, menopause, and Cushing's syndrome.

The guideline has three main objectives for patients with endocrine diseases:

• Describe lipid abnormalities and cardiovascular risk.
• Assess whether endocrine disorder treatment improves the lipid profile and/or lowers heart disease risk.
• Discuss the evidence for using cholesterol and triglyceride-lowering medications, in addition to diet and exercise.

"This guideline is the first of its kind. We hope that it will make a lipid panel and cardiovascular risk evaluation routine in adults with endocrine diseases and cause a greater focus on therapies to reduce heart disease and stroke," said Connie Newman, M.D., of the New York University Grossman School of Medicine in New York, N.Y. Newman is the chair of the committee that wrote the guideline. Guideline Recommendations

• Obtain a lipid panel and evaluate heart disease risk factors in adults with endocrine disorders.
• Start statins in type 2 diabetes patients and risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
• Consider statin therapy in type 1 diabetes adults with obesity, vascular complications, or 20-year history of diabetes.
• Rule out hypothyroidism before treatment with lipid-lowering drugs.
• Monitor the lipid profile in adults with Cushing's syndrome, and consider statin treatment in addition to lifestyle modifications.
• Use statins to treat high cholesterol or triglycerides in post-menopausal women.
• Evaluate and treat lipids and other cardiovascular risk factors in women who enter menopause early.

The Society established its Clinical Practice Guideline Program to provide endocrinologists and other clinicians with evidence-based recommendations in diagnosing, treating, and managing endocrine-related conditions.

Source-Medindia