Issue Date: December 21, 2008
A cholesterol drug's other benefits
A new study helps solve the "heart puzzle."
|
For decades, cardiology researchers have studied various pieces of the "heart puzzle." Familiar examples include cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, smoking and diabetes. Another clue is called C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation that researchers have suspected was part of the heart disease puzzle.
In a recent "New England Journal of Medicine," researchers reported data from following 18,000 people who, in simple blood tests, had normal LDL cholesterol (below 130) but elevated CRP (2 or higher). The team wanted to determine whether those with an elevated CRP level would benefit from statins and see if the drugs would help prevent cardiovascular events (defined as a heart attack or stroke; interventions like stents or bypass surgery; hospitalization for angina; or death from a heart condition). Would a statin, in this case rosuvastatin (Crestor), reduce that risk?
They divided the people into two groups, giving one a placebo and the other Crestor. After observing them for just under two years, researchers found the Crestor group had had significantly fewer cardiovascular events.
This deepens our understanding of cardiovascular problems, and although our "heart puzzle" is by no means complete, studies like this certainly make the picture clearer.
Tedd Mitchell, M.D., is the co-author of "Move Yourself: The Cooper Clinic Medical Director's Guide to All the Healing Benefits of Exercise (Even a Little!)."
|
