Wider use of cholesterol lowering drug could save thousands of lives

From: Promax Middle East
Published: Wed Nov 23 2005


Wider use of cholesterol lowering drug could save thousands of lives
Statins can help prevent heart attacks and strokes in many patients, research suggests
Doctors widely prescribe statins to minimize the risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with high cholesterol levels. A recent research paper published online by Lancet, states that statins could benefit other patients as well, including those with lower levels of cholesterol.
Statins reduce the levels of cholesterol in the blood. Cholesterol is a type of fat (known as lipids) and when there is excess in the system, it damages the lining of the arteries and increases the risk of a heart attack.
UAE has one of the highest rates of residents with high cholesterol in the Gulf region. Cholesterol is known to worsen the condition of patients suffering from diabetes and also increases the risk of coronary heart disease. In UAE, research shows cardiovascular disease causes about 25% of deaths.
"Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the United Arab Emirates and indeed in the entire Gulf area. Furthermore, most of our patients developed this disease at a much earlier age as compared with the Western industrialized countries. The mean age of patients developing heart attack in the UAE is approximately 48 years of age, whereas in Western Europe it is approximately 65 years of age. What is more depressing is the Inter-Heart study, in which many Middle Eastern countries including UAE participated, showed cardiovascular disease will double in the next decade," said Dr. Binbrek, Head of Cardiology Unit, Rashid Hospital.

According to Dr. Binbrek, the main causes for this disease are smoking, hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol and poor lifestyle due to poor diet, lack of exercise, and resulting in obesity. "All these risk factors are preventable and we could dramatically reduce the impact of cardiovascular disease if only our population could make lifestyle changes," he explained.
Raised cholesterol level, along with smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure and being overweight or obese, is a risk factor for heart disease. The researchers analyzed detailed results from more than 90,000 participants in 14 trials involving statin treatments. The study showed that statin drugs could be beneficial in a much wider range of patients than is currently considered for treatment.
There are two components of cholesterol – HDL (good cholesterol) and LDL (bad cholesterol). Recently, the guideline for treatment of high cholesterol has changed very significantly. Patients who have had heart attacks, balloon angioplasty, or bypass surgery would need to have their LDL cholesterol extremely low (below 70 mg/dL). Those who have more than two risk factors, such as diabetes and hypertension, but without obvious heart disease, would require their LDL cholesterol below 100 mg/dL. Finally, those without any risk factors but have family history of heart disease would prefer to have their LDL cholesterol below 130 mg/dL.
"The treatment for high cholesterol is diet and exercise, and those who are at high risk would in addition require drugs known as statins. The five commonly used statins available in UAE are Crestor, Lipitor, Zocor, Lipostat, and Lescol. All these drugs are efficacious in reducing cholesterol and cut down cardiovascular events by nearly a third. The most powerful statin is Crestor. The UAE and other Gulf countries participated in a study called Discovery Alpha which compared the safety and efficacy of Crestor 10 mg against Lipitor 10 mg. Our results showed the two agents to be equally safe, but Crestor reduced the LDL cholesterol by more than 40% as compared with Lipitor," declared Dr. Binbrek.
The benefits of statin treatment were seen in all of the different patient groups studied, including women, the elderly, individuals with diabetes and those with and without prior heart attack or other pre existing cardiovascular disease.
In addition to the positive results achieved in high risk patients with high cholesterol, they showed that people who had the largest reduction in their LDL-C cholesterol levels achieved the greatest benefits, irrespective of their pre-treatment cholesterol levels.
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For more information about the press release, please contact:
Vivian Veldstra
Promax ME
04 282 6411
050 7191 886
vivian@promax.ae


Company: Promax Middle East
Contact Name: Vivian Veldstra
Contact Email: vivian@promax.ae
Contact Phone: 04 2826411