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.

AstraZeneca reconfirms the safety of Crestor

In the case of Crestor (rosuvastatin calcium), the application for approval was the most extensive ever for a statin involving more than 12,000 patients, and was unanimously recommended for approval by the FDA's advisory board in July of 2003.

20 Nov 2004

Keeping fit lowers C-Reactive protein in people with metabolic syndrome

In people with signs of metabolic syndrome, including high blood pressure, high triglycerides, high cholesterol, elevated blood glucose and obesity, physical activity appears to reduce a marker for inflammation which has been linked to heart disease

16 Nov 2004

Atorvastatin slows down mental decline and improves depressive symptoms in people with Alzheimer’s disease

The cholesterol-lowering drug atorvastatin slowed down mental decline and improved depressive symptoms in people with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a small pilot study reported at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2004.

11 Nov 2004

Generic statin drugs shown to produce similar or better results than expensive brand-name drugs

Researchers from Kaiser Permanente's Northern California region are presenting a study at this week's American Heart Association Scientific Sessions showing that patients who use a generic statin drug rather than its brand-name equivalent fared as well as- sometimes better than-patients on the more expensive drug.

8 Nov 2004

High-dose statin therapy for aggressive cholesterol-lowering outperforms typical care

Patients treated with high doses of atorvastatin had about a one percent lower annual rate of heart attacks than similar patients receiving usual care, according to a new study in the Nov. 2, 2004 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

2 Nov 2004

Do cholesterol-reducing drugs decrease the risk of heart attacks and strokes in diabetics?

International researchers will, for the first time, present findings from the landmark 4D trial about whether a cholesterol-reducing drug decreases the risk of heart attacks and strokes with type 2 diabetics on dialysis at the American Society of Nephrology’s 37th Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri.

1 Nov 2004

Scientists closer to understanding the potential effects of anti-cholesterol drugs on Alzheimer's disease

Scientists at Jefferson Medical College and the Farber Institute for Neurosciences at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia have taken another step in understanding the potential effects of anti-cholesterol drugs on Alzheimer's disease.

25 Oct 2004

A new approach to controlling blood cholesterol levels may be a potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease

A new approach to controlling blood cholesterol levels that is already being investigated to prevent cardiovascular disease also may be a potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease.

13 Oct 2004

Study increases likelihood that MRI could be used as predictive technology to determine which patients should be placed on statin therapy for atherosclerosis

Using modified magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques, researchers at Johns Hopkins have been able to detect the early benefits of a cholesterol-lowering medication much sooner than before.

11 Oct 2004

HHS enhances Medicare drug card program to help seniors

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced new measures to help seniors get the lowest price possible for their medicines by allowing them -- for the first time -- to compare prices for similar drugs used to treat common diseases such as high cholesterol or blood pressure.

15 Sep 2004

Missing link between inflammatory markers in the bloodstream and the increased risk of heart attack

The study of 386 Olmsted County, Minn., residents used transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) to obtain high-quality images of the lining of the aorta, the main artery through which the heart pumps blood to the body.

14 Sep 2004

Ezetrol co-administration with statin therapy lowers LDL cholesterol in diabetics

Results from two new clinical trials show that patients with diabetes and metabolic syndrome who are treated with ezetimibe (EZETROL®) co-administered with a statin experience greater reductions in LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, compared to patients taking a statin alone.

7 Sep 2004

Study into treatments for Britain’s number one health problem, coronary heart disease

A 12-year, 3,000-patient study into treatments for Britain’s number one health problem, coronary heart disease, has been launched this summer.

31 Aug 2004

Surgery for angina in the elderly provides long-term mortality

Elderly people who undergo surgery or angioplasty to treat chest pain fare just as well long-term as those treated with medication, researchers report in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

30 Aug 2004

Early use of aggressive statin therapy may offer some benefit for coronary patients

Statins initiated early after a patient experiences an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) event at dosages above the typical starting dose may help reduce subsequent cardiovascular events, but the high dose regimen used may increase the risk for muscle-related complications, according to the results from the Phase Z portion of the A to Z Trial released on the JAMA website today.

30 Aug 2004

No benefit from early PCI/CABG in high risk unstable angina patients

Patients with chest pain are recognized as being at high risk of subsequent adverse cardiac events when their plasma levels of cardiac troponin are elevated as evidence of myocardial damage.

29 Aug 2004

Statins (HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors), are effective long term

Statins (HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors), a class of drugs that block production of cholesterol in the liver, lower total cholesterol and LDL and are also associated with cardiovascular benefits, are effective in the long term, conclude authors of a study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET.

26 Aug 2004

Early cholesterol-lowering drug therapy reduces artery-clogging plaque

Early cholesterol-lowering drug therapy after hospitalization for acute coronary syndrome appears to reduce artery-clogging plaque, according to a study reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

25 Aug 2004

Cholesterol guidelines advise more intensive treatment

Cardiologists at Temple University Hospital are working with area primary care physicians to help educate patients who are at moderate-to- high risk for heart attack about new guidelines for lowering cholesterol.

23 Aug 2004

People with type 2 diabetes could benefit from atorvastatin

Results of a randomised trial in this week’s issue of THE LANCET suggest that people with type 2 diabetes could benefit from cholesterol-lowering therapy with statins to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, even when they do not have high cholesterol concentrations.

20 Aug 2004