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.

Study determines dose-specific patterns associated with generic statin switching

Research conducted in the Netherlands has highlighted the need for care when switching patients under treatment for high cholesterol from branded to generic drug families. The study shows that much of the switching can result in patients inadvertently receiving non-equivalent doses, potentially leading to an increased risk of downstream heart disease and stroke.

31 Aug 2010

Study shows statin therapy not associated with cancer

In the largest and most reliable study of its type, the University of Oxford (UK) and the University of Sydney (Australia) have demonstrated that statin therapy is not a cause of increased cancer rates and deaths. The conclusions of this study will reassure the millions of people worldwide who are taking statins to lower cholesterol levels, and clarifies earlier research that had raised concerns of a causal link.

31 Aug 2010

Amsterdam Molecular first half 2010 net loss in line with last year

Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics, a leader in the field of human gene therapy, today reported its results for the first half year of 2010.

31 Aug 2010

Statin therapy reduces cardiovascular disease risk in patients with high sensitivity C-reactive protein

People at intermediate risk of cardiovascular disease who have high levels of high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), a blood marker for inflammation, could benefit from cholesterol-lowering therapy even if their cholesterol is already at desirable levels.

25 Aug 2010

Immunosuppressive therapy benefits necrotizing myopathy patients with novel autoantibody specificity

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have identified a subgroup of patients with necrotizing myopathy who have a novel autoantibody specificity that makes them potential candidates for immunosuppressive therapy. The complete study is published in the September issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology.

20 Aug 2010

Celera Corporation releases review article on KIF6 gene variant for CHD

Celera Corporation today announced the publication of a review article on the KIF6 gene variant as a predictor of risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) and reduction of CHD events from statin therapy.

19 Aug 2010

Burger, fries and a statin please!

British scientists have come up with a novel idea. They suggested that junk food counters should hand out free cholesterol-lowering statin drugs to their customers to “neutralize” the heart risks of eating fatty foods like burgers and fries. The idea is to project having high cholesterol fatty food as risky a behavior as driving or smoking that needs the user to go for seatbelts and filtered cigarettes respectively.

17 Aug 2010

Statin drugs can neutralise heart disease dangers of fatty food: Study

Fast food outlets could provide statin drugs free of charge so that customers can neutralise the heart disease dangers of fatty food, researchers at Imperial College London suggest in a new study published this week.Statins reduce the amount of unhealthy "LDL" cholesterol in the blood. A wealth of trial data has proven them to be highly effective at lowering a person's heart attack risk.

13 Aug 2010

Fast food outlets can provide statin drugs to help customers neutralise heart disease: Researchers

12 Aug 2010

Study shows physicians reluctant to use finasteride for prostate cancer

Despite the dramatic results of the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT), which showed a significant reduction in prostate cancer among those taking finasteride, physicians have not increased its use, according to a study published in the September issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

11 Aug 2010

Amarin provides progress update on MARINE and ANCHOR trials for treating elevated triglyceride levels

Amarin Corporation plc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a focus on cardiovascular disease, today reports a financial update as of June 30, 2010. In addition, the Company provides a progress update of its MARINE and ANCHOR trials, the two on-going Phase 3 clinical trials of its lead product candidate AMR101 for treating elevated triglyceride levels.

10 Aug 2010

Amarin completes enrollment in AMR101 Phase 3 MARINE clinical trial

Amarin Corporation plc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a focus on cardiovascular disease, today announced that its MARINE trial, a Phase 3 clinical trial of AMR101, has completed patient enrollment and randomization into the treatment phase of this trial. The Company indicated that top line results from this trial are expected early in 2011, towards the early part of the range of guidance provided previously.

10 Aug 2010

Genzyme, Isis announce results of two mipomersen phase 3 studies

Genzyme Corp. and Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. today announced results of two phase 3 studies of mipomersen in patients who had high cholesterol levels while on maximally tolerated lipid-lowering therapy. In the study of patients with severe hypercholesterolemia, mipomersen reduced LDL-C, the primary endpoint, by 36 percent compared with a 13 percent increase for placebo.

5 Aug 2010

HDL does not predict heart attack risk after dramatic statin therapy: Study

People with high levels of "good cholesterol," HDL-C, tend to have fewer heart attacks, but HDL-C may offer little protection to people who take statins to lower harmful LDL cholesterol, researchers reported July 21. At Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Dr. Paul Ridker and colleagues analyzed a large study of healthy people who took the statin CRESTOR® (rosuvastatin calcium) to prevent heart attacks. They found that in this group, having high HDL-C was a bad predictor of heart attack risk.

2 Aug 2010

ESC concerned over interpretation of JUPITER sub-analysis trial results about HDL cholesterol

The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) is concerned that interpretations of a paper about cholesterol, published in the Lancet, could act to deter ongoing research efforts into developing new therapeutic strategies to increase high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Caution, the ESC experts advise, should be displayed in the interpretation of the results.

26 Jul 2010

Inhibiting fatty acid synthase can reduce atherosclerosis: Study

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found a way to significantly reduce atherosclerosis in mice that does not involve lowering cholesterol levels or eliminating other obesity-related problems.

26 Jul 2010

Mayo Clinic's July issue offers tips on ophthalmology, Alzheimer's and CKD

Here are highlights from the July issue of Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource. You may cite this publication as often as you wish. Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource attribution is required.

20 Jul 2010

All dementia isn't Alzheimer's disease: Mayo Clinic

Occasional misplaced keys or forgotten names don't mark the beginning of dementia. All dementia isn't Alzheimer's disease. Some dementia symptoms can be reversed. Those facts and many more are covered in Deciphering Dementia, a supplemental Special Report to the July issue of Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource

16 Jul 2010

Study: High concentrations of cocoa flavanols decrease blood pressure

A new study by UCSF cardiologists and researchers found that high concentrations of cocoa flavanols decrease blood pressure, improve the health of blood vessels and increase the number of circulating blood-vessel-forming cells in patients with heart disease. The findings indicate that foods rich in flavanols - such as cocoa products, tea, wine, and various fruits and vegetables - have a cardio-protective benefit for heart disease patients.

7 Jul 2010

ESMT CA study: Cutting pharmaceutical prices will reduce number of new medications

Cutting pharmaceutical prices will severely reduce the number of new medications making it to market, according to a groundbreaking independent study from ESMT Competition Analysis. For the first time, the study on 'Pharmaceutical Innovation and Pricing Regulation' clearly models and quantifies the direct link between strict regulation and low innovation.

1 Jul 2010