Introduction

Welcome to the Diet at the Heart online tutorial which aims to refresh your knowledge related to the dietary management of dyslipidemias, and to highlight how diet and lifestyle interventions can play an important role in the prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD). This tutorial was developed for general practitioners (GPs) and healthcare professionals (HCPs) in primary care practices to help leverage existing knowledge; the tool can also be a useful resource for medical students.
In recent years, dietary habits and their influence on cardiovascular risk have been extensively reviewed. The most recent European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and European Atherosclerosis Society (EAS) guidelines on the management of dyslipidaemias1 and the ESC/EAS guidelines on CVD prevention in clinical practice2, clearly state that dietary modifications should form the basis for CVD prevention.
This tutorial specifically addresses the role of dietary and lifestyle modifications, in particular the role of dietary fats and fibres and the use of foods with added plant sterols/stanols to help lower (LDL-) cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of developing CVD. It will also provide you with the latest guidelines and practical advice for the management of dyslipidemia.
Prof Lale Tokgözoglu,
Hacettepe University,
Ankara, Turkey.
President of the European Atherosclerosis Society
“Cardiovascular diseases are one of the leading causes of death worldwide and they are an economic burden on our health systems. The aim of this online tutorial is to provide you with evidence-based guidelines and practical advice so you can help your patients manage their dyslipidemia through simple dietary and lifestyle modifications. This tutorial builds on earlier work done by the European Atherosclerosis Society, addressing the important role of diet and lifestyle which form the basis for dyslipidaemia treatment and CVD prevention. I believe that by applying this knowledge in practice we can help people change their behaviour via healthier diet and lifestyle choices and this is important for the prevention of CVD”.
2. Piepoli MF, Hoes AW, Agewall S et al. 2016 European Guidelines on cardiovascular disease prevention in clinical practice. The Sixth Joint Task Force of the European Society of Cardiology and Other Societies on Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Clinical Practice (constituted by representatives of 10 societies and by invited experts). Eur Heart J 2016; 37 (29):2315-2381.