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.

Fish oil and vitamin D pills no guard against cancer or serious heart trouble

A widely anticipated study has concluded that neither vitamin D nor fish oil supplements prevent cancer or serious heart-related problems in healthy older people, according to research presented Saturday at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions. Researchers defined serious heart problems as the combined rate of heart attacks, stroke and heart-related deaths.

12 Nov 2018

Cholesterol-lowering drug reduces chance of having second heart problems or stroke

In a clinical trial involving 18,924 patients from 57 countries who had suffered a recent heart attack or threatened heart attack, researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and fellow scientists around the world have found that the cholesterol-lowering drug alirocumab reduced the chance of having additional heart problems or stroke.

8 Nov 2018

Study highlights need for interventions to improve statin use among older adults

In a British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology study of older adults prescribed statins, first-year nonadherence and discontinuation rates were high.

7 Nov 2018

Study examines timing of musculoskeletal adverse events that develop during statin therapy

Statins have been linked with muscle pain and other musculoskeletal adverse events in some patients. A new Pharmacology Research & Perspectives study has examined the timing of MAEs that develop during statin therapy and determined whether concomitant drugs used concurrently with statin therapy shifts the timing of MAEs.

7 Nov 2018

New heart drug spotlights troubling trends in drug marketing

At the end of September, Amarin Corp. teased some early findings for Vascepa, its preventive medicine for people at risk of heart disease.

2 Nov 2018

AstraZeneca to present Phase III CVOT DECLARE-TIMI 58 results at AHA Scientific Sessions

AstraZeneca will present 20 abstracts including a late-breaking oral presentation on the full results from the Phase III cardiovascular outcomes trial DECLARE -TIMI 58, the broadest SGLT2 inhibitor CVOT conducted to date, as well as new research from the Company's Cardiovascular, Renal & Metabolism therapy area at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, November 10-12, 2018, in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

1 Nov 2018

Working Towards a Sustainable Future for the NHS

An interview with Jennifer Lee, Director of Market Access and Advocacy at Janssen UK, the pharmaceutical company of Johnson & Johnson, discussing the importance of innovation in the private sector and making new technologies available to the NHS.

12 Oct 2018

Carnegie scientist awarded NIH grant to identify novel medicines for cardiovascular disease

Carnegie's Department of Embryology scientist Steven Farber and team have been awarded a 5-year $3.3-million NIH grant to identify novel pharmaceuticals for combatting a host of diseases associated with altered levels of lipoproteins like LDL ("bad cholesterol").

11 Oct 2018

Blood pressure lowering therapy and statins continue to improve survival in patients with hypertension

Blood pressure and cholesterol lowering drugs continue to improve survival in patients with hypertension after more than a decade, according to late breaking results from the ASCOT Legacy study presented at ESC Congress 2018 and published in The Lancet.

28 Aug 2018

Study shows new options to lower heart disease risk in people with diabetes

A drug used to manage diabetes may reduce heart disease and death in people with diabetes regardless of their cholesterol levels and whether they are on a statin therapy, suggests a new analysis of the LEADER trial.

27 Aug 2018

New guidelines help decide if open heart surgery or stent is better after heart attack

New advice on the choice between open heart surgery and inserting a stent via a catheter after a heart attack is launched today.

25 Aug 2018

Statins may improve conditions of people with rare lung disease

In the first study of its kind, researchers have found that cholesterol-lowering statins may improve the conditions of people with a rare lung disease called autoimmune pulmonary alveolar proteinosis. The research also suggested that two new tests could help diagnose the condition.

17 Aug 2018

Taking cholesterol-busting pills can effectively treat brutal PAP

Researchers report in Nature Communications they figured out why air sacs in the lungs clog up with a thick substance called surfactant in a brutal disease called Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis, and they show taking cholesterol-busting pills called statins can effectively treat the disease.

7 Aug 2018

Pairing online patient dashboard with 'nudges' to doctors triples statin prescribing rates

Pairing an online patient dashboard with "nudges" to doctors tripled statin prescribing rates in a clinical trial led by Penn Medicine researchers.

27 Jul 2018

Novel cellular pathway may clarify how arterial inflammation develops into atherosclerosis

Investigators have identified a new cellular pathway that may help explain how arterial inflammation develops into atherosclerosis-;deposits of cholesterol, fats and other substances that create plaque, clog arteries and promote heart attacks and stroke. The findings could lead to improved therapies for atherosclerosis, a leading cause of death worldwide.

22 Jun 2018

Nutrient supplements do not provide extra benefits says new Australian survey

According to a recent nutrition survey in Australia, 29 percent of the population are taking at least one dietary supplement a day. In the United States, at least 52 percent are taking a dietary supplement a day. The study attempted to look at the long term benefits offered by regular intake of vitamin and mineral supplements for the prevention of diseases such as heart disease and stroke as well as premature death.

30 May 2018

Study discovers genetic variations that increase heart attack risk for statin patients

A Vanderbilt-led research team has discovered genetic variations that increase the risk of heart attack even when patients are receiving a statin drug like Lipitor or Crestor to lower their blood cholesterol.

10 May 2018

Common therapy options for psoriasis can help reduce coronary plaque, study shows

Late-breaking clinical science shows common therapy options for psoriasis (PSO)-a chronic inflammatory skin disease-can help reduce coronary plaque. The authors found that not only do the treatments reduce the volume of the plaque, but also the plaque becomes less inflammatory over time harboring fewer characteristics prone to rupture and cause a heart attack.

26 Apr 2018

People with high LDL cholesterol levels likely to get greater benefits from statins

Cholesterol-lowering drugs are more likely to save thousands of additional lives when used in people with higher levels of LDL cholesterol, or "bad" cholesterol, according to a new study from the University of Iowa, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

17 Apr 2018

Researchers get one step closer to creating peptide vaccine against atherosclerosis

In the disease atherosclerosis, cholesterol-containing plaques form in vessel walls, causing arteries to narrow and greatly increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke.

12 Apr 2018