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Combination of a cholesterol-lowering statin and ezetimibe lowers risk of a heart attack or stroke
High cholesterol is a key culprit in the development of cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in the United States and many other developed countries. We know that lowering cholesterol helps prevent heart attacks and strokes. But an unanswered question remains: how low should you go? New research published online today in The New England Journal of Medicine suggests that lower is better. Cholesterol and cardiovascular disease Cholesterol travels through the bloodstream in two main particles: high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL). HDL scavenges cholesterol from the bloodstream and fro...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - June 4, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Gregory Curfman, MD Tags: Drugs and Supplements Heart Health cholesterol ezetimibe Source Type: news

Studies support broader use of cholesterol-lowering statins
The latest guidelines used to determine who should take a cholesterol-lowering statin to prevent heart disease appear to be more accurate and cost-efficient than the previous guidelines. That’s according to two studies led by Harvard researchers, both published in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association. For many years, the main deciding factor in who needed to take a statin was the level of an individual’s harmful low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL). Updated guidelines published in 2013 by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association moved away from LDL and ...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - July 16, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Julie Corliss Tags: Drugs and Supplements cholesterol high cholesterol statins Source Type: news

7 Myths About Cholesterol, Debunked
You may not recall every lab value from your last physical, but you probably remember one: Your cholesterol level. If it’s higher than ideal, you’re not alone. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 2015 and 2018, almost 12% of U.S. adults ages 20 and up had high total cholesterol, defined as above 240 mg/dL. The type that physicians mostly worry about is LDL (or “bad”) cholesterol, which is one component of that total. Why do doctors care so much about cholesterol? First, “it predicts risk,” says Dr. Jeffrey Berger, a cardiologist and director of the C...
Source: TIME: Health - June 19, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Katherine Hobson Tags: Uncategorized freelance healthscienceclimate heart health Source Type: news

Merck's Zetia cuts heart attack, stroke risk in long-awaited study
CHICAGO (Reuters) - After years of uncertainty, a nearly decade-long study showed that Merck & Co's cholesterol drug Zetia lowered the risk of heart attacks and strokes in high-risk heart patients when used with an effective statin.
Source: Reuters: Health - November 17, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: healthNews Source Type: news

Do statins interfere with the flu vaccine?
Statins are powerful, unusual, and, like El Niño and Tom Cruise, not well understood. Statins have a huge upside. They improve survival after heart attacks and lower the risk of recurrent strokes. They are also the only cholesterol-lowering medications that have been clearly shown to reduce heart attacks and deaths in high-risk patients without heart disease. In addition to reducing cholesterol, statins also lower levels of inflammation in the body. Reducing inflammation probably helps statins to prevent heart attack and stroke. However, evidence is emerging that these statin effects may also have a downside, hindering th...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - November 30, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Ross, MD, FIDSA Tags: Cold and Flu Drugs and Supplements Health Heart Health Vaccines flu vaccine statins Source Type: news

New drug 'effective' for those with intolerable statin side effects
Conclusion The main results of this study relate to the lipid-lowering effects of two alternative non-statin medications. However, it highlights the muscle-related adverse effects that can occur with statins. The study is carefully designed and has many strengths, including: a washout period between drugs to remove any residual effects double-blind design throughout so people didn't know what they were taking sufficient duration for each phase of the study (10 and 24 weeks) to allow effects to develop a good sample size – the researchers calculated beforehand how many people would need to be recruited to ena...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 4, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Medication Older people Source Type: news

Farewell to the fasting cholesterol test?
At a recent meeting I offered a visitor lunch which she declined with obvious regret. She was hungry, and it was noon. But she was headed to her annual physical, and eating beforehand would mean returning another morning for a fasting cholesterol level. Most of us can relate to her annoyance, but thankfully this may soon be a thing of the past. Doctors have traditionally ordered cholesterol tests to be drawn after an overnight fast. But this requirement causes a significant burden on both sides of the health care equation. Most people hate to fast. Skipping meals is particularly difficult for active people, people with dia...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - June 16, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Naomi D. L. Fisher, MD Tags: Health Heart Health Prevention Screening Tests and procedures Source Type: news