The Change Mariner

Cholesterol Targets Should Be Set Far Lower

New York Times:

The findings, cardiologists say, will greatly change how doctors treat patients with heart disease and will provide the impetus to re-evaluate how low cholesterol levels should be. The study compared high doses of one of the most powerful cholesterol-lowering drugs, Pfizer's Lipitor, to a less potent drug, Pravachol, made by Bristol-Myers Squibb, which conducted the trial.

The patients taking Lipitor were significantly less likely to have heart attacks or to require bypass surgery or angioplasty, the study found. Both drugs are statins, a class of medications that block a cholesterol-synthesizing enzyme and are often prescribed for patients with heart problems.

"This is really a big deal," Dr. David Waters, a professor of medicine at the University of California in San Francisco, said of the findings. "We have in our hands the power to reduce the risk of heart disease by a lot. It's very exciting."

Posted by Bob King at March 9, 2004 09:09 AM | TrackBack
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