Specialists with the Strong Women's Heart Program are expanding a study that considers the effects of a statin drug on metabolic syndrome, a condition that increases women's risk for heart disease and stroke.
Volunteers enrolled in the second phase of the trial additionally undergo a noninvasive ultrasound test to determine the thickness of the inner lining of the carotid arteries, in an effort to predict the risk of potential cardiac events.
Metabolic syndrome is a collection of health risk factors that include being overweight, having borderline glucose (sugar) levels, borderline blood pressure, and abnormal cholesterol levels with high triglycerides (fat content in blood). People with three or more risk factors are considered to have metabolic syndrome.
The purpose of both phases of the study is to evaluate the effect of an atorvastatin, in this case, Lipitor, on important blood markers known to be abnormal in the syndrome, Velarde said. The hope is to determine the ability of statins to lower risk factors of the condition, and to determine the impact of treatment on the syndrome's individual components. Atorvastatin is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of high cholesterol.
This second phase of the study expands the number of women involved, incorporates a control group of women who do not have metabolic syndrome, and utilizes ultrasound imaging to check the carotid arteries, according to cardiologist Gladys Velarde, M.D. , director of the Strong Women's Heart Program at the University of Rochester Medical Center .
“The more we know about metabolic syndrome and how statins impact a woman's health, the closer we will be to decreasing the risk of heart disease and stroke in women who have the syndrome,” Velarde said.