Goldberg - Figure 13 - Research needs - 2 Text
As shown in this Figure, further research needs include:
- cost-effectiveness analysis of the benefits of aggressive therapy, to further refine and make the case for treating patients;
- long-term follow-up of patients with FH, including safety of long-term therapy with lipid-lowering drugs (although many of the drugs have been available for several decades, long-term therapy, especially with younger people, is of concern to some authorities and further follow-up is important to see how patients do);
- research in differences in drug metabolism by gender, ethnicity, and age, since systematic variations have been found in how people respond to medications;
- research on the long-term cardiovascular benefits of combination therapies (most of the clinical trials that are available have been done with single agents).