Basil M. Rifkind
Basil M. Rifkind | |
|---|---|
| Born | Basil Mair Rifkind 1934 |
| Died | 22 June, 2008 (aged 73) |
| Occupation | Physician |
| Spouse |
Margaret Reacha Raisman
(m. 1960) |
Basil Mair Rifkind (1934 – 22 June 2008) was an American physician known for conducting influential research that demonstrated lowering blood cholesterol reduces cardiovascular disease risk.
Career
Rifkind was born in Glasgow to Lithuanian Jewish parents.[1][2] He studied at the University of Glasgow and obtained his MD in 1955.[1] He practiced internal medicine at Glasgow Royal Infirmary from 1960 to 1971. In 1971, he was appointed a medical officer under Robert Levy at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Lipid Metabolism Branch.[2] He became chief and director of the Lipid Research Clinics (LRC) Program that conducted population research on lipid metabolism.[2] The program included the famous Coronary Primary Prevention Trial (CPPT) in 1984, a large patient randomized trial that tested the lipid hypothesis.[2] The trial provided conclusive evidence that lowering blood cholesterol reduces cardiovascular disease risk.[1][3] The trial has been described as the "first study to demonstrate conclusively" that lowering cholesterol levels reduced the rate of heart attacks in a group of middle-aged men.[4]
In 1984, Rifkind was co-chairman of the National Institutes of Health's Consensus Conference on Lowering Blood Cholesterol to Prevent Heart Disease.[1] He was a Fellow to the Royal College of Physicians.[1]
Death
Rifkind had Parkinson's disease. He died on 22 June 2008, aged 73.[2]
Selected publications
- Hyperlipidemia: Diagnosis and Therapy (1977)[5]
- Ten-Year Mortality from Cardiovascular Disease in Relation to Cholesterol Level among Men with and Without Preexisting Cardiovascular Disease (1990)[6]
- The Lipid Research Clinics Coronary Primary Prevention Trial: Design, Results, and Implications (1991)[7]
- Clinical Trials of Reducing Low-Density Lipoprotein Concentrations (1998)[8]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Basil Rifkind". Chicago Tribune. 2008. Archived from the original on October 27, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Gordon, David J. (2008). "Basil Rifkind". Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 28 (9): 156. doi:10.1161/ATVBAHA.108.174078.
- ^ Sullivan, Patricia (2008). "Cholesterol Pioneer Dies". The Denver Post. Archived from the original on March 9, 2025.
- ^ Boffey, Philip M. (1984). "Study Backs Cutting Cholesterol to Curb Heart Disease Risk". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 24, 2015.
- ^ Kuo, Peter T. (1978). "Hyperlipidemia: Diagnosis and Therapy". JAMA. 239 (26): 2797. doi:10.1001/jama.1978.03280530061035.
- ^ Pekkanen J, Linn S, Heiss G, Suchindran CM, Leon A, Rifkind BM, Tyroler HA. (1990). "Ten-Year Mortality from Cardiovascular Disease in Relation to Cholesterol Level among Men with and Without Preexisting Cardiovascular Disease". The New England Journal of Medicine. 322 (24): 1700–1707. doi:10.1056/NEJM199006143222403. PMID 2342536.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Probstfield, J. L.; Rifkind, B. M. (1991). "The Lipid Research Clinics Coronary Primary Prevention Trial: Design, Results, and Implications". European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. 40: S69 – S75. doi:10.1007/BF01409413.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Rifkind, Basil M. (1998). "Clinical Trials of Reducing Low-Density Lipoprotein Concentrations". Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinics of North America. 27 (3): 585–595. doi:10.1016/S0889-8529(05)70027-X.