ABSTRACT
While clinical dyslipidaemias have a biochemical basis and characteristic signs, symptoms and laboratory findings, a population-based perspective offers another view. In the early 1900s adults infrequently lived past the age of 50 years, chronic diseases were uncommon, and acute infections accounted for most deaths. The advent of antimicrobial agents and widespread use of immunization led to greatly improved control of acute and chronic infections by the middle of the 20th century. Faced with an ever-extending lifespan, health care experts have lamented that atherosclerotic disease and the high costs of associated care have become the scourge of developed nations. Atherosclerosis underlies most vascular disease and leads to illnesses that reflect involvement of the coronary, cerebrovascular and peripheral arterial beds; dyslipidaemia is a critical factor in this pathological process.
