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VIDEO: Understanding mechanisms of LDL, arteries removes ‘black magic’
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ORLANDO, Fla. — Ira Tabas, MD, PhD, of Columbia University Medical Center, highlights the clinical relevance of gaining clarity on the interplay between LDL and CVD in improving patient care.
“When you have firm understanding of mechanism, it makes treatment choices a lot easier,” he said. “It helps to understand why lowering LDL helps us. … It takes away a lot of the black magic.”
Tabas details the damage done to the arterial wall caused by floating LDL particles, the effects on blood flow and the resulting CV events.
“It’s really very simple in terms of the LDL getting in or not getting in,” he said. “If we prevent it from getting in … there’s less probability that the LDL will do its damage in the arterial wall.”
Tabas touches on therapeutic approaches known to lower LDL, underscores questions that remain as to their role in reducing CVD and expresses hope that “having a mechanistic underpinning for interpreting the clinical data” will reap benefits.