Archive for the ‘Cholesterol’ Category
Friday, February 15th, 2008
Researchers have exploited a structural vulnerability in the "superbug" Staphylococcus aureus that in laboratory experiments and a mouse study opened the bacterium to treatment with an anti-cholesterol medication. This follows the 2007 discovery that a pigment provides a "golden armor" that enables staph to evade the immune system. An article ...
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Thursday, February 14th, 2008
The percentage of U.S. adults taking prescription drugs to treat health conditions such as high cholesterol, diabetes, depression and hypertension increased significantly between 2000 and 2007, according to a study released on Tuesday by Express Scripts, USA Today reports. For the study, researchers analyzed prescription drug use data for three ...
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Monday, February 11th, 2008
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on Thursday sent letters to advertising agencies believed to be involved with a television ad campaign for the cholesterol medication Lipitor, manufactured by Pfizer, that features Robert Jarvik, inventor of the first artificial heart, the New York Times reports. ...
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Thursday, February 7th, 2008
U.S. adult consumers spent nearly $36 billion for prescription drugs to lower blood sugar, reduce cholesterol, or help with other metabolic problems in 2007, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The four other classes of drugs that topped spending among adults ...
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Wednesday, February 6th, 2008
The disease familial combined hyperlipidemia (FCH) is a common cause of disturbed metabolism of fat and early heart attacks. Uppsala University scientists have now developed a pioneering method and can show for the first time what genes are regulated by the gene USF1, which is known to cause the disease. ...
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Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
Two newspapers on Tuesday reported on scrutiny of statin use and whether the drugs provide prolonged life or benefits to patients with high cholesterol. Summaries appear below.New York Times: In the "fallout from the headline-making trial of Vytorin, a combination drug that was found to be no more effective than ...
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Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
Merck and Schering-Plough recently offered a detailed explanation of their decision to delay the release of the results of a study of the cholesterol medication Vytorin, the Wall Street Journal reports. The study, called Enhance, ended in April 2007, but the companies did not release the results until Jan. ...
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Monday, January 28th, 2008
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an Early Communication regarding the agency's ongoing review of Vytorin based on preliminary results from a recently completed study - the Effect of Combination Ezetimibe and High-Dose Simvastatin vs. Simvastatin Alone on the Atherosclerotic Process in Patients with Heterozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia (ENHANCE) - ...
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Sunday, January 27th, 2008
Recent studies that raised questions about the benefits of the cholesterol medication Vytorin, manufactured by Merck and Schering-Plough, and the safety of the type 2 diabetes treatment Avandia, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, are "reigniting debate" about the FDA approval process for new medications, the Wall Street Journal reports. House Energy ...
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Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008
Physicians currently evaluate a patient's risk for heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases (CVD) individually, but a new assessment tool could gauge risk of overall ,or global, CVD and a range of cardiovascular diseases at one time, according to a study published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart ...
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Friday, January 18th, 2008
Patients have begun "swamping" physician offices to ask whether they should end treatment with the cholesterol medication Vytorin, co-marketed by Merck and Schering-Plough, after a recent study found the treatment no more effective than a treatment available in generic form in the prevention of accumulation of plaque on artery walls, ...
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Wednesday, January 16th, 2008
The American College of Cardiology (ACC) has issued a statement yesterday, 15th January, asking patients taking the cholesterol busting drugs Zetia (ezetimibe) and Vytorin (ezetimibe and simvastatin combined) not to panic and to talk to their doctors about the impact of the disappointing trial results on their treatment.The statement follows ...
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Wednesday, January 16th, 2008
Cleveland Clinic researchers will coordinate the first head-to-head comparison of the two most powerful statin medications. The trial intends to begin enrollment as early as next week. Statins are the world's most commonly prescribed drugs and widely used to treat patients with elevated cholesterol levels. The two ...
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Friday, January 11th, 2008
There is "heartening" news out of the University of Alberta for those who may have overindulged during the recent holidays.U of A medical researchers have found a way to reduce the amount of bad cholesterol and fatty acids that end up in the blood from food the body metabolizes, a ...
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Friday, January 11th, 2008
Researchers investigating the biochemical characteristics behind several everyday diseases have discovered a new chromosomal region to be strongly associated with the bad cholesterol, low density lipoprotein, (LDL). High levels of LDL are considered a major risk factor for the development of coronary heart disease - the UK's biggest killer. The ...
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