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Below is a sampling of the best the Web has to offer in terms of patient education materials, clinical practice recommendations, current news, professional education opportunities, conferences, and more.

American Heart Association
www.americanheart.org
In addition to CME offerings and patient education materials, the AHA provides a comprehensive library for medical professionals that includes scientific statements and clinical guidelines, online versions of the association's five scientific journals, medical references, and the latest cardiovascular news. Of particular interest are online summaries of a recent AHA satellite broadcast on the NCEP ATP III guidelines.

American Diabetes Association
www.diabetes.org
The site's professional section includes clinical practice recommendations, online versions of the ADA's four clinical journals, and a listing of clinical trials and professional education opportunities.

American College of Cardiology
www.acc.org
This site offers clinical statements and guidelines, recommendations for applying clinical guidelines in medical practice, current news, a catalog of professional education opportunities, and a link to an online version of The Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

National Cholesterol Education Program
www.nhlbi.nih.gov/about/ncep/index.htm
Sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), this site offers clinical resources and patient education materials aimed at raising awareness and understanding of high blood cholesterol as a risk factor for CHD and the benefits of lowering cholesterol levels.

Goal Calculator and Risk Assessment
http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/1031002203.html
This risk assessment tool helps your patients estimate their risk of heart attack and helps them calculate their LDL-C goal.

Rosuvastatin Information
www.rosuvastatininformation.com
This site offers a comprehensive, scientific, nonpromotional summary of rosuvastatin clinical trials conducted by AstraZeneca and a summary of postmarketing data for the first 5 years that rosuvastatin was available. This site will not be updated beyond April 2008.

AstraZeneca has completed extensive clinical trials involving CRESTOR^® (rosuvastatin calcium). See the results of our clinical experience.

• CRESTOR is indicated^# as an adjunct to diet to reduce elevated Total-C, LDL-C, ApoB, non-HDL-C, and triglycerides and to increase HDL-C in adult patients with primary hyperlipidemia or mixed dyslipidemia and to slow the progression of atherosclerosis in adult patients as part of a treatment strategy to lower Total-C and LDL-C to target levels. CRESTOR is not indicated to reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality

Important safety information about CRESTOR

• CRESTOR is contraindicated^# in patients with a known hypersensitivity to any component of this product, in patients with active liver disease, which may include unexplained persistent elevations of hepatic transaminase levels, in women who are pregnant or may become pregnant, and in nursing mothers
• Cases of myopathy and rhabdomyolysis with acute renal failure secondary to myoglobinuria have been reported with HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, including CRESTOR. These risks can occur at any dose level but are increased at the highest dose (40 mg)
• CRESTOR should be prescribed with caution in patients with predisposing factors for myopathy (eg, age ≥65 years, inadequately treated hypothyroidism, renal impairment). The risk of myopathy during treatment with CRESTOR may be increased with concurrent administration of some other lipid-lowering therapies (fibrates or niacin), gemfibrozil, cyclosporine, or lopinavir/ritonavir
• Therapy with CRESTOR should be discontinued if markedly elevated CK levels occur or myopathy is diagnosed or suspected. All patients should be advised to promptly report unexplained muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness, particularly if accompanied by malaise or fever
• CRESTOR 40 mg should be used only for those patients not achieving their LDL-C goal with 20 mg. Patients initiating CRESTOR therapy or switching from another statin should begin treatment with CRESTOR at the appropriate starting dose
• It is recommended that liver enzyme tests be performed before and at 12 weeks following both the initiation of therapy and any elevation of dose, and periodically (eg, semiannually) thereafter. Should an increase in ALT or AST of >3 times ULN persist, reduction of dose or withdrawal of CRESTOR is recommended. CRESTOR should be used with caution in patients who consume substantial quantities of alcohol
• In the controlled clinical trials database, the most common adverse reactions were headache (3.7%), myalgia (3.1%), abdominal pain (2.6%), asthenia (2.5%), and nausea (2.2%)^‡‡