The author reviews the main epidemiological studies which identified a number of risk factors of ischaemic heart disease and became the basis for widely accepted ranges of lipids where dietary or medicamentous intervention should be used. She emphasizes in particular the evaluation of the total risk not only from the aspect of various lipid indicators but also non-lipid risk factors. The author reviews the main hypolipidaemic intervention studies and their meta-analyses. She emphasizes the importance of hitherto not widely accepted hypolipidaemic treatment in secondary prevention of ischaemic heart disease, which reduced not only cardiovascular but also total mortality. The author gives also an account of coronarography-based intervention studies which provide evidence that intensive hypolipidaemic treatment leads not only to arrested progression but may induce regression of atherosclerotic vascular changes.