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.

Statins may protect against GVHD complications

Cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins are among the most prescribed medicines in the U.S. Now a new study by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center indicates that statins may protect stem cell transplant patients from one of the most serious complications of the life-saving cancer therapy: graft-versus-host disease, or GVHD.

5 Dec 2009

Statins may help protect stem cell transplant patients from GVHD

5 Dec 2009

70% of 350 US physicians will increase the use niacin for patients, says report

Sermo (http://www.sermo.com), the world's largest online physician's community, today announced the results of a new report indicating that 70% of 350 US physician respondents would increase their use of niacin based on results from the ARBITER 6-HALTS trial.

2 Dec 2009

Free medications to people after heart attack will increase length of their life

Providing free medications to people after heart attack could add years to patients' lives at a relatively low cost for provincial governments, according to a new study by researchers at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto.

1 Dec 2009

Review of study presented at American Heart Association Scientific Sessions

Adding the cholesterol drug niacin to a statin improved HDL ("good") cholesterol levels and significantly reduced carotid arterial plaque buildup measured with ultrasound within 8 months, with further improvement seen at the end of the study (14 months).

21 Nov 2009

High blood pressure: A major risk factor for stroke and heart disease

Today, Jamieson Laboratories, in partnership with the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON), is holding a one day Blood Pressure Blitz in Toronto's underground PATH system in an effort to educate consumers about the number one risk factor for stroke and a major risk factor of heart disease.

20 Nov 2009

Joint project focuses on finding ways to prevent dementia, including Alzheimer's disease

Every two years, 2,000 senior Group Health patients check in with the Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) study. The joint project between Group Health Research Institute and the University of Washington (UW) focuses on finding ways to delay or prevent dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, and declines in memory and thinking.

19 Nov 2009

Dual niacin-statin therapy improves blood cholesterol levels but does not diminish plaque buildup

The routine prescription of extended-release niacin, a B vitamin (1,500 milligrams daily), in combination with traditional cholesterol-lowering therapy offers no extra benefit in correcting arterial narrowing and diminishing plaque buildup in seniors who already have coronary artery disease, a new vascular imaging study from Johns Hopkins experts shows.

19 Nov 2009

CRESTOR reduces major cardiovascular events in women by 46%

A new analysis of the JUPITER trial, released today at the American Heart Association meeting in Orlando, Florida, demonstrates that CRESTOR (rosuvastatin calcium) 20mg reduced first major cardiovascular events by 46%.

18 Nov 2009

Data demonstrate that danger of low levels of HDL is not reduced by statin treatment

Data released today at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2009 define the increased risk of heart attacks and cardiovascular disease in patients with low levels of HDL-C (known as "good cholesterol"). The data also determine that statins are unable to significantly impact the heart attack or cardiovascular disease risks associated with low HDL-C.

18 Nov 2009

Genzyme and Isis Pharmaceuticals announce phase 3 study data of mipomersen

Genzyme Corp. and Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced that data from the phase 3 study of mipomersen in patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (hoFH) were presented today at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions.

17 Nov 2009

Upsher-Smith Laboratories publishes results of SLIM Study

Results of the SLIM Study ("Slo-Niacin® and Atorvastatin Treatment of Lipoproteins and Inflammatory Markers in Combined Hyperlipidemia") were recently published in the Journal of Clinical Lipidology.

17 Nov 2009

Statin therapy should still be used first to reach blood cholesterol levels before considering niacin

Heart experts at Johns Hopkins are calling premature the early halt of a study by researchers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Washington Hospital Center on the benefits of combining extended-release niacin, a B vitamin, with cholesterol-lowering statin medications to prevent blood vessel narrowing. Cardiovascular atherosclerosis, as it is also known, is believed responsible for one in three deaths in the United States each year.

17 Nov 2009

Effect of niacin or ezetimibe added to chronic statin therapy on carotid intima media thickness: Study

In combination with statins, adding a medication that raises high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol was more effective in reversing artery wall plaque buildup and in reducing heart disease risk than adding a drug that lowers low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, researchers reported today at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2009.

16 Nov 2009

Simcere Pharmaceutical announces financial results for the third quarter of 2009

Simcere Pharmaceutical Group, a leading pharmaceutical company specializing in the development, manufacturing, and marketing of branded generic and proprietary pharmaceuticals in China, today reported unaudited financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2009.

16 Nov 2009

Vanderbilt University researchers study role of statins in reducing flu-related deaths

Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers are studying statins, the class of drugs long associated with lowering cholesterol, as a way to reduce H1N1-related deaths.

13 Nov 2009

Cholesterol-lowering drugs associated with reduced risk of gallstone disease

Use of the cholesterol-lowering drugs statins for more than a year is associated with a reduced risk of having gallstones requiring surgery, according to a study in the November 11 issue of JAMA.

11 Nov 2009

Simcere Pharmaceutical Group signs agreement to acquire manufacturing license from Tianjin Tianda Pharmaceutical

Simcere Pharmaceutical Group, a leading pharmaceutical company specializing in the development, manufacturing, and marketing of branded generic and proprietary pharmaceuticals in China, today announced an agreement to acquire the manufacturing license in China of Rosuvastatin from Tianjin Tianda Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. ("Tianda").

9 Nov 2009

Statins may have negative effects on some cardiac patients, says study

Although statins are widely used to prevent heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiovascular disorders, new research shows that the class of drugs may actually have negative effects on some cardiac patients. A new study presented at CHEST 2009, the 75th annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), found that statins have beneficial effects on patients with systolic heart failure (SHF), but those with diastolic heart failure (DHF) experienced the opposite effect, including increased dyspnea, fatigue, and decreased exercise tolerance.

4 Nov 2009

Men with lower cholesterol less likely to develop high-grade prostate cancer

Men with lower cholesterol are less likely than those with higher levels to develop high-grade prostate cancer - an aggressive form of the disease with a poorer prognosis, according to results of a Johns Hopkins collaborative study.

4 Nov 2009

Statin News and Research

Further Reading

Statins may protect against GVHD complications

Statins may help protect stem cell transplant patients from GVHD

70% of 350 US physicians will increase the use niacin for patients, says report

Free medications to people after heart attack will increase length of their life

Review of study presented at American Heart Association Scientific Sessions

High blood pressure: A major risk factor for stroke and heart disease

Joint project focuses on finding ways to prevent dementia, including Alzheimer's disease

Dual niacin-statin therapy improves blood cholesterol levels but does not diminish plaque buildup

CRESTOR reduces major cardiovascular events in women by 46%

Data demonstrate that danger of low levels of HDL is not reduced by statin treatment

Genzyme and Isis Pharmaceuticals announce phase 3 study data of mipomersen

Upsher-Smith Laboratories publishes results of SLIM Study

Statin therapy should still be used first to reach blood cholesterol levels before considering niacin

Effect of niacin or ezetimibe added to chronic statin therapy on carotid intima media thickness: Study

Simcere Pharmaceutical announces financial results for the third quarter of 2009

Vanderbilt University researchers study role of statins in reducing flu-related deaths

Cholesterol-lowering drugs associated with reduced risk of gallstone disease

Simcere Pharmaceutical Group signs agreement to acquire manufacturing license from Tianjin Tianda Pharmaceutical

Statins may have negative effects on some cardiac patients, says study

Men with lower cholesterol less likely to develop high-grade prostate cancer

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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