Statin is one of the world's biggest selling drug for lowering LDL cholesterol, a new research suggests using more potent doses of statin could prevent thousands more heart attacks and strokes.
40,000 high-risk patients were assessed for major vascular events after one year of randomisation to either regular or intensive treatment statin. The results, published in The Lancet, found that stronger treatments reduced major heart attacks and strokes by 15%. This included a 13% cut in heart-related death or non-fatal heart attacks, a 19% drop in bypass and other coronary treatments, and a 16% drop in strokes.
However, the study warned that simply raising the dose of simvastain might lead to health problem as muscle weakness and muscle damage are some of the known side effects.
Source: "Intensive lowering of LDL cholesterol with 80 mg versus 20 mg simvastatin daily in 12 064 survivors of myocardial infarction: a double-blind randomised trial". The Lancet, Early Online Publication, 9 November 2010 (full text via Athens)
Showing posts with label cholesterol lowering drug. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cholesterol lowering drug. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Vytorin's cancer saga
The New England Journal of Medicine published an editorial yesterday on its website rising the doubts of the safety of the drug Vytorin and its cancer link. It concludes that “physicians and patients are unfortunately left for now with uncertainty about the efficacy and safety of the drug”.
Vytorin is a combination of 2 drugs : a statin called simvastatin and ezetimibe, a new drug for lowering cholesterol . Vytorin is one of the best-selling drugs in the world and heavily prescribed by doctors although there is little evidence that ezetimibe offers the same benefits as stains.
The SEAS trials of Vytorin, conducted by reserachers in Norway found that Vytorin lowered the average levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol but not the aortic valve disease. It also found unexpectedly more cancer cases among patients taking Vytorin than the placebo.
This has prompted the analysis of the ezetimibe trials by Oxford researchers. When the results from all trials were combined, they did not find an increased incidence of cancer and they concluded that there is "no credible evidence of any side effect of ezetimibe on cancer risk". However, they suggest that “follow-up of longer duration will permit the balance of risks and benefits to be determined more reliably.”
Source: Both articles are published online on Sept 2 at the NEJM website ( will appear in Sept 25 issue of the journal)
Vytorin is a combination of 2 drugs : a statin called simvastatin and ezetimibe, a new drug for lowering cholesterol . Vytorin is one of the best-selling drugs in the world and heavily prescribed by doctors although there is little evidence that ezetimibe offers the same benefits as stains.
The SEAS trials of Vytorin, conducted by reserachers in Norway found that Vytorin lowered the average levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol but not the aortic valve disease. It also found unexpectedly more cancer cases among patients taking Vytorin than the placebo.
This has prompted the analysis of the ezetimibe trials by Oxford researchers. When the results from all trials were combined, they did not find an increased incidence of cancer and they concluded that there is "no credible evidence of any side effect of ezetimibe on cancer risk". However, they suggest that “follow-up of longer duration will permit the balance of risks and benefits to be determined more reliably.”
Source: Both articles are published online on Sept 2 at the NEJM website ( will appear in Sept 25 issue of the journal)
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