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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

Ezetimibe for the prevention of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality events.
CONCLUSIONS: Moderate- to high-quality evidence suggests that ezetimibe has modest beneficial effects on the risk of CVD endpoints, primarily driven by a reduction in non-fatal MI and non-fatal stroke, but it has little or no effect on clinical fatal endpoints. The cardiovascular benefit of ezetimibe might involve the reduction of LDL-C, total cholesterol and triglycerides. There is insufficient evidence to determine whether ezetimibe increases the risk of adverse events due to the low and very low quality of the evidence. The evidence for beneficial effects was mainly obtained from individuals with established atheroscler...
Source: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews - November 19, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: Zhan S, Tang M, Liu F, Xia P, Shu M, Wu X Tags: Cochrane Database Syst Rev Source Type: research

Is very low LDL-C harmful?
CONCLUSION: Achieving an LDL-C of 40-50 mg/dl seems to be safe, and importantly might offer CV beneficial effects. Data for attaining levels below 25 mg/dl is limited, however in favor of such reductions. PMID: 30295187 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Current Pharmaceutical Design - October 8, 2018 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Faselis C, Imprialos K, Grassos H, Pittaras A, Kallistratos M, Manolis A Tags: Curr Pharm Des Source Type: research

High-fat diet leads to same intestinal inflammation as a virus
FINDINGSA new study by scientists at UCLA found that when mice eat a high-fat diet, the cells in their small intestines respond the same way they do to a viral infection, turning up production of certain immune molecules and causing inflammation throughout the body. The scientists also found that feeding the mice tomatoes containing a protein similar to that in HDL, or “good cholesterol,” along with the generic cholesterol drug Ezetimibe, reversed the inflammation.The results could lead to new types of drugs, targeting the intestinal cells, to reduce people ’s risk of heart attacks and strokes, or to treat other cond...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - June 21, 2017 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news

Addition of Ezetimibe to statins for patients at high cardiovascular risk: Systematic review of patient ‐important outcomes
Abstract Ezetimibe is widely used in combination with statins to reduce low‐density lipoprotein. We sought to examine the impact of ezetimibe when added to statins on patient‐important outcomes. Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, and CENTRAL were searched through July, 2016. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of ezetimibe combined with statins versus statins alone that followed patients for at least 6 months and reported on at least one of all‐cause mortality, cardiovascular deaths, non‐fatal myocardial infarctions (MI), and non‐fatal strokes were included. Pairs of reviewers extracted study data and assessed risk of bia...
Source: Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice - January 15, 2017 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Yutong Fei, Gordon Henry Guyatt, Paul Elias Alexander, Regina El Dib, Reed A.C. Siemieniuk, Per Olav Vandvik, Mark E. Nunnally, Huda Gomaa, Rebecca L. Morgan, Arnav Agarwal, Ying Zhang, Neera Bhatnagar, Frederick A. Spencer Tags: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW Source Type: research

Efficacy of ezetimibe: A real effect?
We do not agree with the methods and the conclusions of the systematic review of Savarese et al. [1]. Their meta-analysis of seven randomized controlled trials tests the safety and the efficacy of ezetimibe (E), added to a statin, in comparison indifferently versus placebo or active treatment and shows a favorable effect of E on risks of major non-fatal endpoints (myocardial infarction RR: 0.865, 95% CI: 0.801–0.934; stroke RR: 0.840, 95% CI: 0.744–0.949), with a neutral effect on mortality outcomes (all-cause death RR: 1.003, 95% CI: 0.954–1.055; CV death RR: 0.958, 95% CI: 0.879–1.044) and new cancer risk (RR: 1....
Source: International Journal of Cardiology - February 24, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Alberto Donzelli, Alessandro Battaggia Tags: Correspondence Source Type: research

Ezetimibe provides incremental reduction in risk for cardiovascular events and need for revascularisation following an acute coronary syndrome
Commentary on: Cannon CP, Blazing MA, Giugliano RP, et al., IMPROVE-IT Investigators. Ezetimibe Added to Statin Therapy after Acute Coronary Syndromes. N Engl J Med 2015;372:2387–97. Context Use of statin therapy to treat dyslipidemia in patients with established coronary artery disease is the standard of care worldwide. Given the negative results of a number of trials that tested the use of adjuvant lipid-lowering therapies against a statin background, there has been great scepticism about whether or not non-statin drugs provide incremental benefit.1–3 Ezetimibe inhibits the absorption of both dietary and bili...
Source: Evidence-Based Medicine - September 24, 2015 Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Toth, P. P. Tags: Health policy, Epidemiologic studies, Genetics, Immunology (including allergy), Vaccination / immunisation, Stroke, Diet, Ischaemic heart disease, Health economics, Health service research, Lipid disorders Therapeutics/Prevention Source Type: research

Effect of Low‐Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Lowering by Ezetimibe/Simvastatin on Outcome Incidence: Overview, Meta‐Analyses, and Meta‐Regression Analyses of Randomized Trials
ABSTRACT This analysis investigated the extent of different outcome reductions from low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‐C) lowering following ezetimibe/simvastatin treatment and the proportionality of outcome to LDL‐C reductions. The authors searched PubMed between 1997 and mid‐June 2015 (any language) and the Cochrane Library to identify all randomized controlled trials comparing ezetimibe/simvastatin with placebo or less intensive LDL‐C lowering. Risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), standardized to 20 mg/dL LDL‐C reduction, were calculated for 5 primary outcomes (fatal and nonfatal) and...
Source: Clinical Cardiology - August 18, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Costas Thomopoulos, George Skalis, Helena Michalopoulou, Costas Tsioufis, Thomas Makris Tags: Review Source Type: research