RSS Feeds
American College of Physicians Guidelines on Cholesterol Screening
The Editors welcome submissions for possible publication in the Letters section. Authors of letters should:
•Include no more than 300 words of text, three authors, and five references
•Type with double-spacing
•Send three copies of the letter, an authors' form signed by all authors, and a cover letter describing any conflicts of interest related to the contents of the letter.
Letters commenting on an Annals article will be considered if they are received within 6 weeks of the time the article was published. Only some of the letters received can be published. Published letters are edited and may be shortened; tables and figures are included only selectively. Authors will be notified that the letter has been received. If the letter is selected for publication, the author will be notified about 3 weeks before the publication date. Unpublished letters cannot be returned.
Annals welcomes electronically submitted letters.
TO THE EDITOR:
The 1 March 1996 issue included three papers on cholesterol screening that totaled 21 pages [1-3]. It is obvious that the topic is controversial and will continue to stimulate debate. However, cholesterol screening is not the real issue.
In these days of managed care and automated laboratory testing, we rarely have a choice about whether to screen patients for cholesterol levels. Some automated biochemical profiles may contain values for 25 items, including not only total cholesterol levels but levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. We get these values whether we want them or not, in the young and old, in women and men. Given the way in which automated profiles are structured, it costs more not to get these already-included items.
Therefore, the real issue in 1996 is not whether to screen for cholesterol levels but what to do with the values that we inevitably receive. This is not a new concept. Just think of all the superfluous data physicians review. How valuable is the routine lactate dehydrogenase level? What about chloride levels? Do we need iron levels for everybody? How useful is knowledge of the globulin level of a healthy, middle-aged person?
Perhaps the 1 974 000 pages disseminated by Annals on cholesterol screening (21 pages × 94 000 subscribers) would have been better used if they had contained information on what we should do with the cholesterol levels we receive.
Mark R. Goldstein, MD
The Editors welcome submissions for possible publication in the Letters section. Authors of letters should:
•Include no more than 300 words of text, three authors, and five references
•Type with double-spacing
•Send three copies of the letter, an authors' form signed by all authors, and a cover letter describing any conflicts of interest related to the contents of the letter.
Letters commenting on an Annals article will be considered if they are received within 6 weeks of the time the article was published. Only some of the letters received can be published. Published letters are edited and may be shortened; tables and figures are included only selectively. Authors will be notified that the letter has been received. If the letter is selected for publication, the author will be notified about 3 weeks before the publication date. Unpublished letters cannot be returned.
Annals welcomes electronically submitted letters.
- Copyright ©2004 by the American College of Physicians
