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.

New treatments have major impact on heart failure rates

Deaths from severe heart attacks following admission to hospital have nearly halved in six years as a result of advances in medical treatment.

2 May 2007

Statin drugs also may help reduce risk of heart failure

Statin drugs, known primarily for their ability to lower cholesterol, also may reduce the overactive sympathetic nervous system response that contributes to the worsening of heart failure and increases the risk of sudden cardiac death, two University of Missouri-Columbia researchers have found. Heart failure is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States.

2 May 2007

Improving outcomes for patients with acute coronary syndrome

Recent changes in the recommended treatments used for patients hospitalized for acute coronary syndromes, such as a heart attack, are associated with reductions in the rates of heart failure, stroke, heart attack and death, according to a study in the May 2 issue of JAMA .

2 May 2007

Efforts to standardize heart care are working

People who suffer a heart attack or severe chest pain today are much less likely to die, or to experience long-lasting effects, than their counterparts even a few years ago, according to a new international study in the May 3 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

2 May 2007

When hospitals follow the guidelines deaths from heart attack are halved

A study by an international team of researchers say they have found that deaths from severe heart attacks after hospital admission have almost halved in six years.

2 May 2007

Simvastatin may help sufferers with Alzheimer's

Treatment with Simvastatin, one of the statin drugs widely used for lowering cholesterol in humans, significantly improved spatial memory - how to navigate a water maze - in mice genetically bred to have an Alzheimer's like disease.

1 May 2007

Drug for toenail fungus also blocks angiogenesis

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered to their surprise that a drug commonly used to treat toenail fungus can also block angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels commonly seen in cancers.

30 Apr 2007

Are higher doses and higher costs for cholesterol drugs worth the extra money?

When it comes to cholesterol-lowering drugs, more is better. At least, that's what heart doctors and heart patients have been hearing in recent years.

24 Apr 2007

Schering-Plough announces ZETIA spproved in Japan

Schering-Plough Corporation has announced that Schering-Plough K.K., the company's country operation in Japan, has received marketing approval for ZETIA (ezetimibe), a novel cholesterol-lowering agent that inhibits the absorption of cholesterol in the intestine.

20 Apr 2007

Flu can actually trigger heart attacks

Doctors need to take concerted action to ensure that people who are at risk of heart disease receive the influenza vaccine every autumn, according to the authors of a new report published in the European Heart Journal.

19 Apr 2007

Lupin Pharmaceuticals receives FDA approval for Suprax

Lupin Pharmaceuticals has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) has approved the company's application for Suprax (Cefixime for oral suspension 200mg/5ml).

15 Apr 2007

Statins lower risk of sepsis in patients on kidney dialysis

Researchers at Johns Hopkins may have discovered an unintended benefit in the drugs millions of Americans take to lower their cholesterol: The medications, all statins, seem to lower the risk of a potentially lethal blood infection known as sepsis in patients on kidney dialysis.

7 Apr 2007

Trial of percutaneous coronary intervention added to optimal medical therapy in patients with stable coronary heart disease

Percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) involve opening partially blocked arteries to improve blood flow to the heart. These procedures are performed more than 1 million times a year.

3 Apr 2007

Effect of Torcetrapib on the progression of coronary atherosclerosis

Investigators report that torcetrapib, a drug that substantially raises high-density lipoprotein cholesterol or HDL (the "good" cholesterol), did not slow the progression of plaque buildup in the coronary arteries as measured using an ultrasound probe (IVUS).

2 Apr 2007

Addition of torcetrapib to statin therapy has no benefit for atherosclerosis progression

For some patients with high cholesterol, even the most aggressive treatment with statin drugs fails to prevent coronary artery disease.

2 Apr 2007

New discoveries offer promise for cholesterol drugs

New discoveries offer promise for developing drugs that improve on the therapeutic profile of niacin, the inexpensive, time-tested B-vitamin that boosts levels of HDL cholesterol, the good cholesterol with the potential to protect people against heart attacks and stroke, scientists report.

1 Apr 2007

Novel anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory agent reduces coronary events

Heart attacks are caused by a build-up and instability of plaque in the coronary arteries, which is often a result of chronic inflammation of the blood vessel walls.

31 Mar 2007

Atorvastatin shows potential as a new treatment for spinal cord injuries

A multidisciplinary investigation led by Inderjit Singh, Ph.D, of the Medical University of South Carolina, has resulted in a new treatment of spinal cord injuries (SCI). The study investigates the efficacy of atorvastatin (AT), (i.e. Lipitor) as a treatment for spinal cord injuries following trauma.

22 Mar 2007

Study compares Lipitor with Simvastatin

A retrospective analysis of a large U.S. managed care database showed that patients who took Pfizer's cholesterol-lowering medicine Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium) Tablets had a significant 14 percent reduction in the risk of cardiovascular events, including heart attacks and strokes, compared with patients who took simvastatin.

5 Mar 2007

Garlic - a tasty addition to food but useless for lowering cholesterol

Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine say they have found that eating garlic raw or taking it in supplement form does not lower "bad" cholesterol levels.

28 Feb 2007