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.

Findings suggest usage of statins after surgery may reduce risk of prostate cancer recurrence

Men who begin taking statins after prostate cancer surgery are less likely to have a recurrence of their cancer, according to a retrospective analysis led by researchers at Duke Medicine.

2 May 2014

People who take statin drugs develop heart disease and obesity-related illnesses

People who take statin drugs to lower their cholesterol appear to have developed a false sense of security that could lead to heart disease and other obesity-related illnesses.

29 Apr 2014

Studies demonstrate new approaches to treating and preventing Parkinson's disease

A trio of studies from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania demonstrate new approaches to understanding, treating and potentially staving off Parkinson's disease (PD). Studies show that factors such as estrogen exposure and statin use have an impact on the onset of Parkinson's disease.

29 Apr 2014

Combination therapy could help prevent cardiovascular disease

Taking one pill instead of three could be a powerful ally to prevent cardiovascular disease, according to a new Cochrane systematic review of the latest research on polypills from a team of scientists at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Warwick Medical School and Northwestern Medicine.

16 Apr 2014

Amgen reports positive findings from AMG 145 Phase 3 studies in patients at risk for cardiovascular disease

Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) today announced new detailed data from three Phase 3 studies that showed treatment with its novel investigational cholesterol-lowering medication, evolocumab (AMG 145), resulted in a statistically significant reduction of 55-66 percent in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) compared to placebo in patients with high cholesterol.

31 Mar 2014

Study on effects of cholesterol-lowering medications on sexual health

A new study is giving hope to older men who are concerned about the effects of cholesterol-lowering medications on their sexual health.

31 Mar 2014

Popular cholesterol-lowering drugs may offer added benefit for men with erectile dysfunction

Statins are associated with a significant improvement in erectile function, a fact researchers hope will encourage men who need statins to reduce their risk of heart attack to take them, according to research to be presented at the American College of Cardiology's 63rd Annual Scientific Session.

31 Mar 2014

First Edition: March 21, 2014

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including a new examination of Ezekiel Emanuel's book about the crafting of the health law and President Obama's latest push to boost enrollment.

21 Mar 2014

Study finds new heart guidelines would put about half of older adults on statins

The New England Journal of Medicine study is the first independent assessment of guidelines released last fall on the use of the heart medications and it shows 56 million people between the ages of 40 and 75 are eligible for the treatment.

21 Mar 2014

New weapon against secondary progressive MS

Statins may provide doctors with an unlikely new weapon with which to slow the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS).

20 Mar 2014

Simvastatin may slow progression of multiple sclerosis

Results of a phase 2 study published in The Lancet suggest that simvastatin, a cheap cholesterol lowering drug, might be a potential treatment option for the secondary progressive, or chronic, stage of multiple sclerosis (MS), which is currently untreatable.

20 Mar 2014

Amgen announces results from Phase 3 TESLA Trial of evolocumab in patients with HoFH

Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) today announced that the Phase 3 TESLA (Trial Evaluating PCSK9 Antibody in Subjects with LDL Receptor Abnormalities) trial evaluating evolocumab met its primary endpoint of the percent reduction from baseline at week 12 in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C).

19 Mar 2014

Researchers create statistical model to predict whether heart scans are useful in prescribing statins

As long as inexpensive statins, which lower cholesterol, are readily available and patients don't mind taking them, it doesn't make sense to do a heart scan to measure how much plaque has built up in a patient's coronary arteries before prescribing the pills, according to a new study by researchers at UC San Francisco.

17 Mar 2014

Investigators urge drug regulators to provide clear evidence on statins’ side effects

At a time when the wider prescription of statins is under renewed public scrutiny, a substantial analysis of placebo-controlled randomised trials of statins has found that only a small minority of side effects reported by those taking the cholesterol-lowering drugs are actually attributable to them.

13 Mar 2014

Statins combined with conventional blood clot prevention therapies, reduce VTE risk by 48%

Statins have long been known to lower cholesterol and, more recently, to decrease the risk of deep vein thrombosis (blood clots) in healthy, non-surgical patients.

11 Mar 2014

High-potency statins offer improved chance of survival in heart attack patients

A study looking at the data of thousands of patients who suffered heart attacks has suggested treatment with high-potency statins offers a significantly improved chance of survival compared to those taking normal statins.

20 Feb 2014

Study explains clinical, public health challenges for use of statins in treatment of heart attacks

Charles H. Hennekens, M.D., Dr.P.H., the first Sir Richard Doll professor and senior academic advisor to the dean, and Ira J. Gelb, M.D., emeritus professor of cardiology and senior advisor to the dean for pre-baccalaureate programs at FAU's Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, have published an invited editorial in the current issue of Cardiology about the clinical and public health challenges to increase utilization of statins in the treatment and prevention of heart attacks and strokes.

17 Feb 2014

Medicinewise News' edition examines latest evidence for determining absolute CVD risk, treatment options

NPS MedicineWise is reminding health professionals that while various media reports have recently linked statins to a variety of adverse events and questioned their efficacy, these drugs remain one of the most effective strategies for reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

14 Feb 2014

Clot-busting tPA therapy for ischemic stroke patients can avoid lengthy, restrictive monitoring in ICU

A Johns Hopkins study of patients with ischemic stroke suggests that many of those who receive prompt hospital treatment with "clot-busting" tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) therapy can avoid lengthy, restrictive monitoring in an intensive care unit (ICU).

13 Feb 2014

Microbiologists find way to use statins to fight Hantavirus

wo Perelman School of Medicine microbiologists may have found a way to use statins, the well-known blockbuster cholesterol-lowering drugs, to fight the hantavirus, a mysterious and lethal microorganism that appeared suddenly in the US southwest over 20 years ago.

12 Feb 2014

Statin News and Research

Further Reading

Findings suggest usage of statins after surgery may reduce risk of prostate cancer recurrence

People who take statin drugs develop heart disease and obesity-related illnesses

Studies demonstrate new approaches to treating and preventing Parkinson's disease

Combination therapy could help prevent cardiovascular disease

Amgen reports positive findings from AMG 145 Phase 3 studies in patients at risk for cardiovascular disease

Study on effects of cholesterol-lowering medications on sexual health

Popular cholesterol-lowering drugs may offer added benefit for men with erectile dysfunction

First Edition: March 21, 2014

Study finds new heart guidelines would put about half of older adults on statins

New weapon against secondary progressive MS

Simvastatin may slow progression of multiple sclerosis

Amgen announces results from Phase 3 TESLA Trial of evolocumab in patients with HoFH

Researchers create statistical model to predict whether heart scans are useful in prescribing statins

Investigators urge drug regulators to provide clear evidence on statins’ side effects

Statins combined with conventional blood clot prevention therapies, reduce VTE risk by 48%

High-potency statins offer improved chance of survival in heart attack patients

Study explains clinical, public health challenges for use of statins in treatment of heart attacks

Medicinewise News' edition examines latest evidence for determining absolute CVD risk, treatment options

Clot-busting tPA therapy for ischemic stroke patients can avoid lengthy, restrictive monitoring in ICU

Microbiologists find way to use statins to fight Hantavirus

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

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