Nas Al-Jafari
Intercare Health Center, UAE
Title: Examining the diet-heart hypothesis and current medical approaches to cardiovascular disease
Biography
Biography: Nas Al-Jafari
Abstract
In 1970, Ancel Keys published the ‘seven countries study’, which systematically examined the relationship between lifestyle and cardiovascular disease. Strong associational findings from Key’s study forged the way for the first US dietary guidelines in 1980. In a changing tide of opinion, dietary cholesterol has since been agreed and is of no relevance, according to the 2015 US dietary guidelines, and LDL-cholesterol has been shunned as a predictor of cardiovascular disease. Yet, statins, aimed at reducing total and LDL-cholesterol, have revolutionized the way we treat cardiovascular disease, and continue to forge the way for more novel treatments, like the PCSK9 inhibitors. This talk examines the evidence behind the diet-heart hypothesis and leads on to questioning the validity of current approaches to medical therapy.