In the new European clinical guidelines on dyslipidemias, screening of the risk for cardiovascular diseace is recommended by using lipid assays for all patients who are at high risk due to their clinical characteristics, and for men over 40 years of age and women of over 50 years of age. The starting point in the guidelines is an assessment of individual total risk based on traditional risk factors, i.e. LDL cholesterol level, blood pressure, smoking and age. With respect of dyslipidemia, the effect of HDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels on the total risk is recommended to complement the information provided by the LDL cholesterol level.