Cholesterol Drugs: New Studies Could Spur Even Wider Use. Is That a Good Thing?
By STEVEN FINDLAY
Chances are that a third of you reading this sentence take a statin, the ubiquitous cholesterol-lowering drugs. I do. Is it a good or bad thing that so many of us are taking these meds? Two studies out this month advance the long-running debate about the widespread use of statins—and they could propel doctors to prescribe the drugs to millions more people.
The cholesterol/statin story starts in the early 1980s. Here’s a quick summary:
By 1985, studies showed conclusively that statins (the best known one then was Mevacor/lovastatin) substantially reduced the risk of another heart attack in people who ...
Source: The Health Care Blog - July 27, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: suchandan roy Tags: THCB LDl Lipitor Statins Steven Findlay Source Type: blogs
After Transparency: Morbidity Hunter MD joins Cherry Picker MD
By SAURABH JHA, MD
When report cards of performance became available, cardiac surgeons in New York and Pennsylvania avoided high risk patients. Could something similar happen, nationally, after the forthcoming revolution in transparency inspired by Propublica’s data release?
Take two fictional orthopedic surgeons, Cherry Picker MD and Morbidity Hunter MD.
Cherry Picker lives in the Upper East Side of New York. His patients give him great reviews on Yelp. His patients read every comment on Yelp before making any decision. Cherry Picker has a beautiful family. When he smiles, light refracts from his shiny teeth.
Cherry ...
Source: The Health Care Blog - July 18, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Irvine Tags: THCB ProPublica Risk adjustment Source Type: blogs
Blow your HDL through the roof
The HDL cholesterol value is one of the four values on any conventional lipid/cholesterol panel, along with total cholesterol, triglycerides, and calculated LDL cholesterol (what I call “fictitious” LDL because of its incredible inaccuracy when compared to superior measures).
The HDL cholesterol value has some unique characteristics not shared by the others, however, and can serve as an index of overall health. Very high HDL values, for instance, are associated with extreme longevity. Centenarians typically have values of 90 mg/dl or higher. Higher HDLs are also associated with less risk for diabetes, hypertens...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - June 29, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Wheat Belly Lifestyle fish oil HDL longevity omega-3 saturated fat vitamin D Source Type: blogs
It is hard for people to swallow pills they can’t afford
Cholesterol pills are one of the great medical advances I’ve witnessed during my professional career. I am talking specifically about a category of medications called statins, drugs like Lipitor and Pravachol. These drugs have prevented probably hundreds of thousands of heart attacks and strokes. Only one problem with these drugs, however: statins won’t help people who don’t take them. And according to a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine, when physicians prescribe trade versions of statins rather than generics, the extra cost dissuades many people from filling the prescription.
Continue reading ...
Your pat...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - March 3, 2015 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Peter Ubel, MD Tags: Meds Medications Source Type: blogs
Proven: People Don’t Take Medicare They Can’t Afford
Cholesterol pills are one of the great medical advances I’ve witnessed during my professional career. I am talking specifically about a category of medications called statins, drugs like Lipitor and Pravachol. These drugs have prevented probably hundreds of thousands of … Continue reading →
The post Proven: People Don’t Take Medicare They Can’t Afford appeared first on PeterUbel.com. (Source: blog.bioethics.net)
Source: blog.bioethics.net - February 9, 2015 Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Peter Ubel Tags: Health Care cardiovascular disease financial toxicity health policy healthcare costs heart disease Medicare Peter Ubel syndicated Source Type: blogs
Medications After a Heart Attack
From: www.secondscount.orgYour heart attack recovery will include medications. Taking these medications exactly as prescribed is one of the best tools at your disposal for avoiding death in the months following a heart attack. According to an article published in Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association, heart attack patients who had not filled any of their prescriptions within 120 days of being discharged from the hospital had 80 percent greater odds of death than those who filled all of their prescriptions.Medications you are likely to be prescribed after a heart attack fall int...
Source: Dr Portnay - January 23, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr Portnay Source Type: blogs
Sovaldi, Harvoni, And Why It’s Different This Time
With the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s approval of Harvoni, the successor to Gilead Science’s Sovaldi, the alarm bells have officially rung on breakthrough hepatitis C treatments. One can’t open a newspaper or scan a Twitter feed without stumbling on at least one reference to either of the these two drugs for hepatitis C — an often debilitating viral infection impacting the liver that affects somewhere between 3 to 5 million Americans and several hundred million people worldwide. Hepatitis C infection is often asymptomatic and can have long latency periods. In up to 20 percent of people, chronic infectio...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - November 21, 2014 Category: Health Management Authors: Laura Fegraus and Murray Ross Tags: Access All Categories Bioethics Biotech Business of Health Care Health Care Costs Pharma Spending Source Type: blogs
Top stories in health and medicine, September 15, 2014
From MedPage Today:
Diabetes Pathogenesis Takes Center Stage. The research focus in diabetes may be shifting from developing new treatments to better understanding the pathogenesis of the disease.
The Yelp Phenomenon. Patients can complain about their medical experiences on Yelp, snap photos of doctor’s offices for their Instagram account, and even post pictures of a doctor conducting an exam to Facebook, all “invasions” of privacy that would be actionable if it were a doctor posting about a patient.
Prof Urges Future Docs to Shape Public Debate. What ethical issues in health and medicine do 18-year-old...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - September 15, 2014 Category: Journals (General) Authors: MedPage Today Tags: Uncategorized Diabetes Endocrinology Rheumatology Source Type: blogs
DEA Places Heavy Restrictions on Vicodin and Other Hydrocodone Combination Drugs; Gives Stakeholders 45 Days to Adjust
On Friday, August 22, the U. S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) published their Final Rule moving hydrocodone combination products (HCPs) from Schedule III to the more restrictive Schedule II. The change will take effect 45-days from the Final Rule, so likely on Monday, October 6.
The Controlled Substances Act (CSA) places substances with accepted medical uses into one of four schedules, with substances with the highest potential for harm and abuse being placed in Schedule II, and substances with progressively less potential for harm and abuse being placed in Schedules III through V. Schedule I is rese...
Source: Policy and Medicine - September 9, 2014 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
The Palbociclib Saga: Or Why We Need a Lot of Drug Companies
Science has an article by journalist Ken Garber on palbociclib, the Pfizer CDK4 compound that came up here the other day when we were discussing their oncology portfolio. You can read up on the details of how the compound was put in the fridge for several years, only to finally emerge as one of the company's better prospects. The roots of the project go back to about 1995 at Parke-Davis:
Because the many CDK family members are almost identical, “creating a truly selective CDK4 inhibitor was very difficult,” says former Parke-Davis biochemist Dave Fry, who co-chaired the project with chemist Peter Toogood. “A lot of ...
Source: In the Pipeline - August 22, 2014 Category: Chemists Tags: Cancer Source Type: blogs
CoQ10: Powerful Supplement for Health
Discussion of the Evidence, Scope, Benefits and Risk. Please take a look at this discussion as I’m certain it will help answer some important questions. In addition, some very informative research about coenzyme Q10 can be found in the science section of our website.
Coenzyme Q10 is one of the most fundamentally important nutritional supplements I recommend and use in my clinical practice not just for patients with heart disease, but to support brain health and general health as well. We generally recommend 100mg daily, and 200mg daily for those on statins, beta-blockers, or tricyclic antidepressants.
The post CoQ10: Pow...
Source: Renegade Neurologist - A Blog by David Perlmutter, MD, FACN - August 19, 2014 Category: Neurologists Authors: gbadmin Tags: Science Supplements beta-blockers blood pressure Cardiovascular disease Cholesterol CoQ10 heart lipitor migraines Statins toprol zocor Source Type: blogs
Obama’s Foreign Policy Is Linked to a Healthy, Restrained Immune System
With 58% of Americans disapproving of Obama’s foreign policy, mounting Ebola virus deaths, and flu season around the corner, I think it is important to synthesize an overlapping theme between how our country fights perceived threats, and how our bodies successfully or unsuccessfully fight disease. In short, I think Obama’s continued restraint and use of soft power is evidence of a good prognosis for the country.
In this analogy, our bombs and military are the most caustic weapons of the country’s immune system, akin to a fever of 105 degrees and impending sepsis. Does “nuke them all” work?
Diplomacy, espionage,...
Source: The Examining Room of Dr. Charles - August 16, 2014 Category: Primary Care Authors: drcharles Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
Nutritional Lipidology
I depart momentarily from the primary focus of the Wheat Belly Blog and discuss something that I have been following in practice for more than 10 years. I call it Nutritional Lipidology, the study of the effects of nutrition on lipids, lipoproteins, and metabolic parameters, the stuff underlying many diseases, especially cardiovascular diseases. It is indeed relevant to the Wheat Belly conversation, as wheat elimination and, even better, grain elimination, yields dramatic effects on lipids, lipoproteins, and the factors that drive cardiovascular risk. In fact, I have found these simple strategies so powerful that most peop...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - August 4, 2014 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Wheat Belly Lifestyle cholesterol HDL lipoproteins small LDL particles statin triglycerides Source Type: blogs
The Antibiotic Gap: It's All of the Above
Here's a business-section column at the New York Times on the problem of antibiotic drug discovery. To those of us following the industry, the problems of antibiotic drug discovery are big pieces of furniture that we've lived with all our lives; we hardly even notice if we bump into them again. You'd think that readers of the Times or other such outlets would have come across the topic a few times before, too, but there must always be a group for which it's new, no matter how many books and newspaper articles and magazine covers and TV segments are done on it. It's certainly important enough - there's no doubt that we real...
Source: In the Pipeline - July 25, 2014 Category: Chemists Tags: Infectious Diseases Source Type: blogs
