The Change Mariner

Striking Benefits Found In Ultra-Low Cholesterol

WashingtonPost.com:

High doses of a popular cholesterol-lowering drug can sharply boost protection against getting or dying from a heart attack, according to new research that many experts said is likely to transform the treatment of the nation's leading killer.

The results, released yesterday, provide the first direct answer to one of the most important questions being debated about heart disease: Will pushing cholesterol levels even lower than currently recommended help more people avoid getting sick and dying?

Heart patients who achieved ultra-low cholesterol levels in one study were 16 percent less likely to get sicker or to die than those who hit what are usually considered optimal levels.

The findings should prompt doctors to give much higher doses of drugs known as statins to hundreds of thousands of patients who already have severe heart problems, experts said. In addition, it will probably encourage physicians to start giving the medications to millions of healthy people who are not yet on them, and to boost dosages for some of those already taking them to lower their cholesterol even more, they said.

The research showed a benefit only for the top-selling statin, Lipitor, which was compared with the third most prescribed competitor, Pravachol.