Researchers find alternative cholesterol-lowering drug for patients who can't tolerate statins
2013-03-11
(Press-News.org) SAN FRANCISCO — Heart patients who can't tolerate the side effects of cholesterol-lowering drugs may have a new option, according to a new study by researchers from the Intermountain Heart Institute at Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City.
Researchers found that pitavastatin, a newer cholesterol-lowering drug, may reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke and even death in up to 68 percent of patients with high cholesterol who can't tolerate other cholesterol-lowering medications due to side effects.
Researchers are presenting the results of this study today (Monday, March 10) at the American College of Cardiology's Annual Scientific Session in San Francisco.
The findings are important because up to 15 percent of the nation's heart patients can't tolerate other statin medications, currently the most effective cholesterol-lowering agents available.
"Many of the patients who were not able to tolerate other statins developed side effects, such as myalgia or severe muscle aches. However, our study shows that pitavastatin may be a more tolerable statin that patients can take that will be effective in lowering their cholesterol, and may even save their lives," said Brent Muhlestein, MD, cardiologist at the Intermountain Heart Institute at Intermountain Medical Center, and lead researcher for the study.
The Research
The research team identified 40 patients who had tried at least two other statins and tested them to see if they could tolerate pitavastatin, and if it was effective in lowering their LDL or "bad" cholesterol.
All patients received initial baseline testing, including fasting LDL cholesterol levels. They were then given 2 mg of pitavastatin (also known as Livalo), per day. Those who could tolerate it were then tested again to see if their LDL cholesterol had been reduced.
Findings
68 percent of the study participants were able to tolerate the side-effects of pitavastatin.
Pitavastatin lowered cholesterol by an average of 34 percent.
Patients who could best tolerate the drug were males with no history of heart disease or diabetes.
"We're excited about these findings," said Dr. Muhlestein. "If patients are having a hard time taking older statins, they should try this newer option. We believe the side effects of this drug differ from other statins because pitavastatin is water-soluble and metabolizes differently."
The Intermountain study also confirmed that pitavastatin is far more effective than any other non-statin option.
Ezetimibe (Zetia), for example, is a drug that blocks the absorption of cholesterol and is a non-statin treatment option, but it only lowers bad cholesterol by 18 to 20 percent. Another option is healthy margarine, but that only lowers it by 5 to 10 percent. Pitavastatin, by contrast, lowered cholesterol by an average of 34 percent, according to the study.
###
Other members of the research team include: Bobbi Hollaway; Cheryl Jensen; Haeli Steinmann; Heidi T. May, PhD; Donald Lappe, MD; Jeffrey Anderson, MD; and Joseph Muhlestein, MD.
The Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute at Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City is one of the premier cardiac centers in the country. Intermountain Medical Center is the flagship medical campus for the Intermountain Healthcare system.
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2013-03-11
All living organisms rely on iron as an essential nutrient. In the ocean, iron's abundance or scarcity means all the difference as it fuels the growth of plankton, the base of the ocean's food web.
A new study by biogeochemists and glaciologists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) identifies a unexpectedly large source of iron to the North Atlantic – meltwater from glaciers and ice sheets, which may stimulate plankton growth during spring and summer. This source is likely to increase as melting of the Greenland ice sheet escalates under a warming climate.
The ...
2013-03-11
Their warning comes as the Chief Medical Officer launches the UK's Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy and Action Plan, reflecting the need for a clear change in our understanding of and response to antimicrobial resistance by the public, NHS and government.
Current estimates suggest that antibiotic resistance is a relatively cheap problem, they write, but such estimates do not take account of the fact that antimicrobial medicines are integral to modern healthcare. For example, antibiotics are given as standard to patients undergoing surgery, to women delivering by caesarean ...
2013-03-11
March 11, 2013 -- Research has long linked high socioeconomic status with better health and lower mortality. But what's remained unclear is whether this association has more to do with access to resources (education, wealth, career opportunity, etc.) or the glow of high social status relative to others. Scholars call the latter "relative deprivation."
To tease apart these factors, a team of investigators at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health led by Dr. Bruce Link, studied Baseball Hall of Fame inductees, Emmy Award winners, and former Presidents and ...
2013-03-11
It had been suggested that the origin of pumpkins and cucumbers can be traced back to India. This has now been confirmed on the basis of genetic analyses performed by German and Indian botanists. The study was published in the open access journal PhytoKeys.
Vegetables are essential components of a healthy daily diet, not just in India but around the globe. Compared to grains and pulses, however, vegetables are under-investigated taxonomically, and information on their genome is scarce. The cucumber family, Cucurbitaceae, includes many of our favorite foods: pumpkins, ...
2013-03-11
The temptation to steal or cheat is sometimes great — especially when the risk of being caught is low. A new study suggests that denying people the opportunity to engage in these taboo behaviors may lead them to seek out violent video games as a way of managing their frustration.
The study, led by researcher Brad Bushman of Ohio State University, is published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
Bushman and his colleagues want to understand what attracts people to violent media. In a previous study, they found that people ...
2013-03-11
Worcester, Mass. – Damage to building structural elements, elevators, stairs, and fire protection systems caused by the shaking from a major earthquake can play a critical role in the spread of fire, hamper the ability of occupants to evacuate, and impede fire departments in their emergency response operations. These are among the conclusions of a groundbreaking study of post-earthquake building fire performance conducted in 2012 by researchers in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI).
"When the ground stops shaking after ...
2013-03-11
A team of USC scientists has identified a protein that can change DNA topology, making DNA twist up into a so-called "supercoil."
The finding provides new insight about the role of the protein—known as mini-chromosome maintenance (MCM)—in cancer cells, which have high levels of MCM.
Think about twisting one end of a rubber band while holding the other end still. After a few turns, it forms a neatly twisted rope. But if you keep on turning, the twisted band will twist back upon itself into an increasingly coiled-up knot. Similarly, a DNA molecule can be twisted and ...
2013-03-11
Philadelphia, Pa. (March 11, 2013) – For HIV-infected patients whose disease is well-controlled by modern treatment, the risk of death is not significantly higher than in the general population, according to a study published in AIDS, official journal of the International AIDS Society. AIDS is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
The study suggests that patients with undetectable viral loads and near-normal levels of immune cells on state-of-the art antiretroviral therapy (ART) can expect to have about the same risk of death as ...
2013-03-11
People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who were treated with combination therapy did not see significant clinical benefit over those treated with single drug therapy, but combination therapy did reduce the development of new lesions, according to an international research team led by The Mount Sinai Medical Center. The findings, part of the largest-ever MS trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, are published in the March 11 issue of Annals of Neurology.
In the Phase III CombiRx trial, researchers led by Fred Lublin, MD, of The Mount Sinai Medical Center, sought ...
2013-03-11
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Fitness DVDs are a multimillion-dollar business, and those targeting adults over the age of 55 are a major part of the market. With names like "Boomers on the Move," "Stronger Seniors" and "Ageless Yoga," the programs promise much, but few have ever been rigorously tested.
"There are tons of DVDs out there, 20 percent of them are purchased by older adults, and with few exceptions there is no evidence that they work," said University of Illinois kinesiology and community health professor Edward McAuley, who led a new study testing the efficacy of a home-based ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Researchers find alternative cholesterol-lowering drug for patients who can't tolerate statins
