Crestor: :Rosuvastatin
Courtesy Mykhal The drug company, AstraZenca, makes a drug called Crestor and also receives royalties from a particular blood test (hsCRP) which detects C-reactive protein (CRP), an indicator of infection.
AstraZenca funded a study which found that their product, Crestor, when given to patients identified as having infection via their blood test (hsCRP), "slashed the risk (of heart attack or stroke) of those flagged by the test by about half -- even if their cholesterol was normal".
Infection's role in cardiovascular risk
Why people with normal cholesterol levels suffered heart attacks or strokes has been puzzling. In the study,
either 20 milligrams of the statin Crestor or an inert placebo (was given) daily to 17,802 middle-aged and elderly men and women who had what are considered safe cholesterol levels but high CRP -- 2 milligrams per liter of blood or above.
(They)stopped the trial ... after an average follow-up of less than two years, concluding that the benefit was so striking that it would unethical to continue withholding the real drug from those taking the placebo.
Compared with those getting the placebo, those taking Crestor were 54 percent less likely to have a heart attack, 48 percent less to have a stroke, 46 percent less likely to need angioplasty or bypass surgery to open a clogged artery, 44 percent less likely to suffer any of those events and 20 percent less likely to die from any cause, the researchers reported yesterday. WashingtonPost
Costs, benefits, and alternatives
For every 1000 people in this study who took Crestor, there were about 2 who had heart attacks compared to about 4 in the placebo group (per year).
Some skeptics, however, argued that the actual risk reduction for an individual would be very small, given the relatively low risk for most middle-aged people, so the benefits easily could be outweighed by the costs of thousands more people taking tests and drugs and being monitored by doctors.
The risks from extended use of Crestor by millions of patients is unknown. We do know that lifestyle interventions are effective.
Join the discussion, learn more
Washington Post Staff Writer Rob Stein will be online Monday, Nov. 10 at 11 a.m. ET to discuss a new study that could transform efforts to prevent heart attacks and strokes. You can discuss whether you think drugs and money or lifestyle changes are best for our future there or in comments below.
Read the research paper: Rosuvastatin to Prevent Vascular Events in Men and Women with Elevated C-Reactive Protein
Tags : A burger a day?
With a diet soda, please!
Courtesy ebruli
Researchers from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health have found that adults who eat two or more servings of meat a day increase their risk of developing metabolic syndrome by 25% compared with those who eat meat twice a week. The study, published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association also linked a greater risk of developing metabolic syndrome with eating fried foods and drinking diet soda.
What is metabolic syndrome?
Metabolic syndrome is a group of cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk factors including:
- elevated waist circumference (a waist measurement larger than 35 inches for women or 40 inches for men);
- high blood pressure:
- elevated triglycerides (the chemical form in which most fat exists in food and in the body);
- low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL or “good”) cholesterol;
- and high fasting glucose (blood sugar) levels.
If a person has three or more of these risk factors, their risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease increases.
The study
The U of M findings came from a study of 9,514 participants from four U.S. communities in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study , funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The researchers divided the group based on an assessment of their food intake. One group ate a "Western-pattern diet" with many refined grains, processed meat, fried foods, red meat, eggs and soda, and an overall lack of fish, fruit, vegetables and whole grain products. Another group ate a "prudent-pattern diet" with vegetables, fruit, fish and seafood, poultry and whole grains, and low fat dairy.
After following the the participants for nine years, almost 40% of study participants had three or more risk factors for metabolic syndrome. When researchers analyzed the results based on specific foods, meat, fried foods, and diet soda were red flags for an increased risk for metabolic syndrome. The good news? They found that regular consumption of low-fat dairy products was beneficial in avoiding the same risk factors.
The authors acknowledge that more research is needed to determine how these specific foods, particularly diet soda, raise risk factors.
The lesson? Follow a balanced diet, include low-fat dairy, exercise, and eat your vegetables!
Sources and additional information:
"Dietary Intake and the Development of the Metabolic Syndrome. The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study." Pamela L. Lutsey, Lyn M. Steffen and June Stevens. Circulation; published online Jan 22, 2008.
University of Minnesota Academic Health Center
Posted by Meredith Craven, a communications assistant in the Academic Health Center Office of Clinical Research at the University of Minnesota
A recent study in Poland showed that a flu shot can significantly reduce the risk of death for people with coronary artery disease. Dr. Arnold Monto, professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan, said,
"We know that people die of flu who have underlying cardiopulmonary disease. It's only logical that if you are able to prevent flu with vaccine, you can prevent these deaths."
A new study published in The New England Journal of Medicine shows that low doses of aspirin do not prevent first heart attacks in women under 65, as they do in men.
Earlier research, which focused mostly or entirely on men, indicated that aspirin prevents heart attacks. But the 10-year Women's Health Study, which followed 40,000 women, showed that aspirin does not prevent heart attacks in women. However, it does prevent strokes caused by blood clots, a benefit that has not been conclusively proven in men.
Women in the control group had the same number of heart attacks as the women in the aspirin group. But the number of strokes in the aspirin group was 17% lower. And the aspirin takers had a whopping 24% lower risk of ischemic stroke—the most common kind, caused by a blood clot in an artery leading to the brain. However, the risk of hemorrhagic stroke—caused by bleeding—was slightly higher in the aspirin group. (This was expected, because aspirin reduces blood's ability to clot.)
Both ischemic strokes and heart attacks are caused by blood clots in arteries, so it isn't clear why aspirin only protects women against strokes. The explanation may have something to do with the size of the blood vessels that lead to the brain, which are smaller than those leading to the heart, but no one knows yet for sure.
Because aspirin therapy increases the risk of bleeding, doctors don't currently advise men or women with no risk of heart disease to take aspirin as a preventive measure. Women with risk factors for heart disease (they're over 65, they smoke, have high blood pressure, are diabetic, or have a family history of cardiovascular problems) are often told to take a baby aspirin every day. That probably won't change.
But now doctors can fine-tune the way they manage patients with cardiovascular risk, knowing that women under 65 are more vulnerable to certain kinds of stroke.
You can read the New York Times article about the study here
You can read an abstract of the article in The New England Journal of Medicine here
What do you think about research that shows that some drugs affect women differently than men? Should drug studies have to include equal numbers of men and women? Or should they look at men and women separately? How about different ethnic groups? Or children?
Subscribe
I want to learn about
Science Buzz is supported by the National Science Foundation.Copyright © Science Museum of Minnesota, 2004-2010, except where noted.
Add a new comment