High-dose Zocor cholesterol drug has mixed results
By Ransdell Pierson and Bill Berkrot
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A large study suggests that lowered levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol reduce risk of heart attacks and strokes in high-risk patients, but the trial dashed long-standing hopes that folic acid and vitamin B12 might provide such protection, researchers said on Sunday.
The so-called SEARCH trial, conducted by researchers at Oxford University and financed by Merck & Co, involved 12,000 men and women who had survived a heart attack.
One group of patients took a standard 20 milligram dose of Merck’s Zocor, a member of the statin family of cholesterol drugs now widely sold by generic drugmakers under its chemical name simvastatin. Another group took the maximum available 80 milligram dose of simvastatin.
During an average 6.7 years of treatment, LDL-cholesterol levels of patients receiving the higher dose fell about 14 percent more than those receiving the lower dose.
Even so, the magnitude of additional LDL reduction was disappointing.
“We would have expected a 20 percent incremental reduction,” Yale Mitchel, vice president of cardiovascular research at Merck, said at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in New Orleans, where the results were reported.
The additional reduction in LDL was associated with 6 percent fewer heart attacks, strokes or need for procedures to clear clogged coronary arteries.
Although the benefit was not deemed statistically significant, researchers said the numerical trend was favorable.
“This new work reinforces the fundamental importance of lowering the bad LDL cholesterol as much as we can in our fight against heart attacks and strokes,” said Rory Collins, a professor of medicine at Oxford.
If indeed the lower the level of LDL the better, the modest additional reduction from high dose simvastatin could provide fodder for more powerful statins, such as Pfizer Inc’s Lipitor and AstraZeneca’s Crestor, in discussions with insurers who give preference to generics in their reimbursement formularies.
“Doctors are reluctant to use 80 milligrams of simvastatin because of drug interactions. There’s much more potential for myopathy or rhabdomyolysis with 80 milligrams of simvastatin, so they’re more likely to prescribe Lipitor or Crestor,” said Dr. Carl “Chip” Lavie, director of cardiac rehabilitation and prevention at the Oschner Heart and Vascular Institute in New Orleans.
Although high-dose simvastatin was deemed very safe, 53 patients taking it developed myopathy — a rare type of muscle pain or muscle weakness — compared with only three patients receiving low-dose simvastatin. Moreover, seven of the high-dose patients developed rhabdomyolysis, a more severe form of muscle damage, compared with none of the low-dose patients.
Mitchel said the muscle problems retreated after patients stopped taking high-dose simvastatin and noted that Zocor’s drug label already includes most myopathy findings from the SEARCH trial.
The SEARCH trial also examined whether folic acid and Vitamin B12, which are able to reduce blood levels of the potentially harmful amino acid homocysteine, can protect against artery damage.
Half the SEARCH patients took folic acid — a type of B vitamin — and vitamin B12 daily, while remaining patients took dummy tablets. But the vitamins were found to be unable to reduce heart attacks and strokes. Continued…
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Related Posts:
Lipitor is a prescription drug to treat high cholesterol. If you suffer from high cholesterol despite lowering your cholesterol intake, Lipitor can help return your cholesterol readings into a healthy range. This will reduce the stress on your arteries due to fat deposits and lower your risk for heart disease, heart attacks, and
Full Post: Lower Your Cholesterol with Lipitor
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Bill Berkrot and Ransdell Pierson NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - AstraZeneca’s cholesterol fighter Crestor dramatically cut deaths, heart attacks and strokes in patients with healthy cholesterol levels but who had high levels of a protein associated with heart disease, researchers said on Sunday. Crestor, known chemically as rosuvastatin, reduced heart attack, stroke, need for bypass or angioplasty
Full Post: AstraZeneca’s Crestor cuts deaths and heart attacks
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A single high dose of vitamin D given every four weeks is as safe as smaller daily or weekly doses, and is as effective in achieving adequate circulating levels of the vitamin, according to a study conducted in Israel. To prevent fractures in older patients, the level of the active metabolite
Full Post: Monthly vitamin D supplement safe and effective
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Taking vitamin E supplements does not reduce a woman’s risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an analysis of data from the Women’s Health Study indicates. “Despite plausible biologic mechanisms,” the present randomized, controlled trial does not show that long-term use of vitamin E supplements significantly decreases the risk of developing RA, Dr.
Full Post: Vitamin E won’t prevent rheumatoid arthritis: study
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Joene Hendry NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A study in young adult women links high blood levels of vitamin C with lower blood pressure. This “strongly suggests that vitamin C is specifically important in maintaining a healthy blood pressure,” lead author Dr. Gladys Block, of the University of California, Berkeley, told Reuters Health. Previous research linked high
Full Post: High vitamin C linked to lower BP in young women