Research proves that drug reverses heart disease
People involved in the study got their “bad cholesterol” to the lowest levels ever and, as a result, they noticed that blockages in their blood vessels declined. It’s too early to state whether the shrinkage of deposits in arteries will result in fewer heart attacks, but doctors were enthusiastic about the possibility.
“The holy grail has always been to try to reverse the disease,” and this shows how to do it, stated Dr. Steven Nissen, the cardiologist at Cleveland Clinic and the head of this nationwide experiment. He reported its results during a meeting of heart doctors.
“This is a paper to take seriously. It’s another chapter in the story, a proof of principle,” emphasized Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, head of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
The study examined 349 participants. Two-thirds of them experienced regression of heart artery buildups when they received the maximum dosage of Crestor. It is the most powerful of the cholesterol-lowering statin drugs and one criticized by the consumer group Public Citizen, which claims that Crestor causes more side effects than other drugs of this type.
The group declared on Monday that the study “does not alter our assessment that Crestor has unique risks without evidence of unique benefits” and it should not be prescribed, particularly at the dosage used in this study unless lower dosage and other medicine didn’t help.
The study was sponsored by AstraZeneca PLC, the manufacturer of Crestor. Some reports have connected it with higher rates of severe muscle problems as well as kidney damage, particularly among Asians. Last year, Food and Drug Administration demanded an adequate warning on Crestor’s label.
No important safety issues were detected in the new study, but doctors said it was too minor to reveal rare side effects and was not conducted for that purpose.
The purpose was to check whether patients who already suffered from heart disease, not only increased cholesterol, could turn back time.
Clots in arteries are the major reason of heart attacks. Big clotes are treated either with angioplasty ? to flatten them or by surgery ? to bypass them, but doctors have long looked for a less radical solution that also treats minor buildups that can gradually worsen until squash vessels shut.
Statins such as Pravachol, Zocor and Lipitor have become top-selling drugs worldwide by gravely lowering bad cholesterol (LDL) responsible for clot formation.
In the research, Crestor not only decreased average LDL levels from 130 milligrams per deciliter of blood to around 60, but also increased “good cholesterol” (HDL) level from 43 to 49.
Doctors claim that this dual effect could cause blockages to shrink, as confirmed by ultrasound measurements before treatment and two years after.
The amount of each patient’s major blockage decreased 1 percent. The volume of buildup in the most clogged artery declined 9 percent, and in the total length of the vessel, 7 percent, on average.
“The results are very, very exciting and break new ground,” noted Dr. David Williams of Rhode Island Cardiology Center, who was not involved in the research.
According to Dr. Roger Blumenthal of Johns Hopkins University, it would have been better if the study had tested AstraZeneca’s drug against a lower dosage of another statin drug. Blumenthal’s opinion will appear in an editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study will be published in the journal in April.
The maximum dosage for Crestor is 40 milligrams per day. It means 80 milligrams for the weaker statins. Insurers have already restricted use of particular brands, something likely to increase in the next months as Zocor and Pravachol lose patent protection and cheaper generic drugs become available.
The research also gets back to debate about the desirable level of LDL. According to federal guidelines it is 70 in people who are at high risk of heart disease, but Nissen stated that the benefits noticed when it drops to 60 suggest that “as low as we can go might make more sense. ”
“The body needs about 40 LDL, so we’re getting pretty close to what the body needs for general repair,” noted Dr. Christopher O’Connor, a cardiologist at Duke University who was not involved in the study.
Further details from the conference:
A cure for migraine headaches – patching a hole in the heart like in case of Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister – failed to succeed in its first major test. Only three patients of the group of 74 whose holes were plugged did not suffer from more migraines six months later, the same cure factor as the 71 patients who received a sham procedure to make them think their hearts were being cured, said the leader of the study, Dr. Peter Wilmshurst of Royal Shrewsbury Hospital in England.
However, more patients with patched hearts had a considerable reduction in number of their headaches – a result that brings hope to the NMT Medical Inc. from Boston, the device’s maker. The company has commissioned a larger study of it in the USA.
Doctors reported promising results with the first completely absorbable stent, a small mesh scaffold used to prop open arteries. No blood clots, heart attacks or deaths were reported in the first 63 patients who got the experimental device made by Biotronik, a Berlin-based company, noted Dr. Raimund Erbel of University Clinic in Essen, Germany.
If further research prove that device is successful and safe, it could become the first one device of this type usable in children, who can’t use present metal as well as plastic stents coated with drugs because these devices are not able to grow as the children do.
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This article was reprinted from PharmacyCenter. org health blog.
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