Use Of Cholesterol Drugs By Patients Without High Cholesterol Level

Use Of Cholesterol Drugs By Patients Without High Cholesterol Level.
When the US Food and Drug Administration in February 2010 approved the use of the cholesterol-lowering statin antidepressant Crestor for some rank and file with natural cholesterol levels, cardiologist Dr Steven E Nissen cheered the decision. "You have to go with the precise evidence," said Nissen, who is chairman of cardiovascular pharmaceutical at the Cleveland Clinic prescription. "A clinical plague was done and there was a great reduction in morbidity and mortality in settle treated with this drug".

But Dr Mark A Hlatky, a professor of salubriousness inquire into and policy and medicine at Stanford University, has expressed doubts about the FDA move. He worries that more kith and kin will rely on a drag rather than diet and exercise to cut their heart risk, and also points to studies linking statins such as Crestor to muscle troubles and even diabetes. "I haven't seen anything that changes my opinion about that".

So, will millions of fit Americans soon participate with the millions of less-than-healthy mobile vulgus who already take these blockbuster drugs? The FDA's Feb 9 acceptance of expanded use of rosuvastatin (Crestor) was based on results of the JUPITER study, which confusing more than 18000 people and was financed by the drug's maker, AstraZeneca. People in the side who took the drug for an run-of-the-mill of 1,9 years had a 44 percent lower risk of guts attack, stroke and other cardiovascular problems compared to those who took a placebo - results so receivable that the trial was cut short. Based on JUPITER, an FDA consultive committee voted 12 to 4 in December to second widened use of the drug.

The kinsmen in the trial included men over 50 and women over 60 with rational or near-normal cholesterol levels. However, these individuals did have high levels of C-reactive protein, a marker of infection that has also been linked to cardiovascular problems. They also had at least one other core risk factor, such as embonpoint or high blood pressure.

For that specific group, Crestor makes sense. "Over a five-year years of time, you avoid one death or minor stroke for every 25 people treated". Whether or not others with well-adjusted cholesterol should take Crestor or another statin remains unclear. "Not person with normal cholesterol should be treated. You should give it to bodies with a high enough risk".