Statin News and Research

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Statins are drugs used to lower cholesterol. Your body needs some cholesterol to work properly. But if you have too much in your blood, it can stick to the walls of your arteries, narrowing or even blocking them.

Scientists block early step in metastasis of prostate cancer cells

Recent studies have suggested an association between chronic inflammation and cancers of the prostate, colon, stomach and liver.

9 Apr 2008

Cholesterol in Parkinson's disease

In 2006, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers published a study that found people with low levels of LDL cholesterol are more likely to have Parkinson's disease than people with high LDL levels.

7 Apr 2008

Diabetics have same risk for heart attack, stroke or death from cardiovascular diseases

People with diabetes have the same high risk for heart attack or stroke or cardiovascular death as people who've already had a heart attack, researchers reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

1 Apr 2008

Cholesterol-associated gene variants can predict cardiovascular events

A study appearing in this week's New England Journal of Medicine confirms that a combination of gene variants previously associated with cholesterol levels does reflect patients' cholesterol levels and can signify increased risk of heart attack, stroke or sudden cardiac death.

20 Mar 2008

Genomas awarded $1.2 million to develop DNA-guided system for management of statin therapy

Genomas, a biomedical company advancing DNA-guided medicine and personalized healthcare, has announced the award of a Fast-Track Phase I-II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Grant totaling $1.2 million.

20 Mar 2008

Vegan diet for rheumatoid arthritis patients protects from heart attacks and strokes

A new study suggests that following a gluten-free, vegan diet may offer rheumatoid arthritis patients some protection from heart attacks and strokes.

19 Mar 2008

Women are treated less frequently than men with statins, aspirin and beta-blockers

Women and men experience a similar prevalence of adverse drug reactions in the treatment of coronary artery disease; however, women are significantly less likely than their male counterparts to be treated with statins, aspirin, and beta-blockers according to a new study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center.

6 Mar 2008

New chemical tool kit manipulates mitochondria, reveals insights into drug toxicity

Why do nearly 1 million people taking cholesterol-lowering statins often experience muscle cramps? Why is it that in the rare case when a diabetic takes medication for intestinal worms, his glucose levels improve? Is there any scientific basis for the purported health effects of green tea?

26 Feb 2008

Improving statins

Statin drugs are helping many people lower their cholesterol, but a new study in the February Journal of Lipid Research reveals that statins actually increase the production of another protein that limits their benefit.

8 Feb 2008

Hot flashes may be getting an unfair rap for disrupting women's sleep at midlife

Studies have often reported that sleep problems increase during the transition into menopause, reinforcing the idea that hot flashes are to blame. But even under controlled conditions in sleep laboratories, the connection between hot flashes and sleep disruption remains unclear, reports the February 2008 issue of Harvard Women's Health Watch.

8 Feb 2008

Whole grain diets lower risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease

Diets with high amounts of whole grains may help achieve significant weight loss, and also reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, according to a team of Penn State researchers at University Park and the College of Medicine.

7 Feb 2008

Enbrel shown to significantly reduced levels of C-reactive protein

Amgen and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth have announced findings from a retrospective analysis, which demonstrated that ENBREL reduced C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation, in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis following 12 weeks of treatment. Median reduction in CRP levels was 10 times greater in the ENBREL treated group compared to the placebo treated group.

5 Feb 2008

Researchers uncover key interaction in cholesterol regulation

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have determined the specific way in which a destructive protein binds to and interferes with a molecule that removes low-density lipoproteins (LDL), the so-called "bad" cholesterol, from the blood.

4 Feb 2008

Researchers propose consumers buy yearly 'drug licenses' as new way to pay for prescriptions

Changing the way consumers pay for prescription drugs so that the system more closely resembles paying for cell phones or computer software could increase drug use without altering patients' out-of-pocket spending, health plan costs or drug company profits, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

23 Jan 2008

Statins may not prevent Alzheimer's disease

Contrary to some reports, taking statins, which are cholesterol-lowering drugs, offers no protection against Alzheimer's disease, according to research published in the January 16, 2008, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

17 Jan 2008

Researchers associate six new genetic variants with heart disease risk factor

Using new techniques for rapidly scanning the human genome, researchers have associated levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, two fats in the blood, to 18 genetic variants, six of which represent new DNA regions never before associated with the traits.

15 Jan 2008