Posted on 03/13/2006 1:32:18 PM PST by neverdem
AP MEDICAL WRITER
ATLANTA -- People in a new study got their "bad cholesterol" to the lowest levels ever seen and saw blockages in their blood vessels shrink by taking a high dose of cholesterol drug, researchers reported Monday.
Doctors say it is the best evidence yet that heart disease actually can be reversed, not just kept from getting worse.
Two-thirds of the 349 study participants had regression of heart artery buildups when they took the maximum dose of Crestor, the strongest of the cholesterol-lowering statin drugs on the market and one under fire by a consumer group that contends it has more side effects than its competitors.
It's too soon to tell whether this shrinkage of artery blockages will result in fewer heart attacks, but doctors were excited by the possibility.
"The holy grail has always been to try to reverse the disease," and this shows a way to do that, said Dr. Steven Nissen, the Cleveland Clinic cardiologist who led the research and reported results at the American College of Cardiology meeting.
The study was paid for by AstraZeneca PLC, the maker of Crestor, a drug that a consumer group has been lobbying to have pulled from the market. Some reports have linked Crestor to higher rates of serious muscle problems and kidney damage, especially among Asians.
The Food and Drug Administration last year refused to order the drug off the market but required a warning of the side effects on its label.
In the study, Crestor got people's LDL or "bad cholesterol" levels to around 60 milligrams per deciliter of blood, down from roughly 130 at the start of the experiment. HDL or "good cholesterol" levels rose modestly, from 43 to 49.
"The body needs about 40 LDL, so we're getting pretty close to what the body needs for general repair," said Dr. Christopher O'Connor, a Duke University cardiologist who had no role in the study.
Study results were released Monday by the Journal of the American Medical Association, which will publish it in its April 5 edition.
On the Net:
JAMA: http://jama.ama-assn.org
Heart meeting: http://www.acc.org
Alternatively - Crestor Called Less Safe Than Other Statins, posted here: http://www.medpagetoday.com/Cardiology/Dyslipidemia/tb1/1093
Cholesterol — We have heard for decades that we must have low blood cholesterol levels — the lower the better. My reading of recent developments rather seems to indicate a U-shaped relationship between blood cholesterol and cardiovascular health: If blood cholesterol levels get too low or too high, heart disease increases; people whose levels are between 190 and 280 (or so) seem to have the fewest problems.
Further, if you change your diet to reduce cholesterol intake, your body will manufacture more of its own to compensate; if you increase dietary cholesterol intake, your body will make less. So dietary changes often don't have much effect, and doctors prescribe (establishment) medication. Like salt, cholesterol is something we can't do without — both salt and cholesterol are necessary for the nervous system to function. People are changing their diets and taking medication, perhaps harming themselves, on the basis of bad medical advice which is based in bad science.
http://www.mises.org/story/2080
In other words....we're screwed
You get the feeling that some of these "announcements" are related to some large stock holder's position in that stock that he wants to unload?
Naw, just go ahead and enjoy those egg yolks!
85% of the cholesterol in your body comes from your very own liver.
The way I understand it is this:
There are anti-oxidants. There are also the bad guys, the oxidants. The oxidants like to pull a nasty trick - they like to steal electrons. That's what oxidizers do.
When they steal electrons fron the artery walls, the body perceives that as damage, and starts to try to fix it.
By patching it with cholesterol.
So anti-oxidants are very good for you. So are negative ions, because they give the oxidants the electrons they want without them getting stolen from someplace else.
This is probably a vast oversimplification, but I think biochemists have come up with pretty much the same.
Looks like it's pretty rough on the muscles and kidneys....
Alabama Cow Tests Positive for Disease [mad cow disease....]
FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.
Thanks for the links.
Check this out: http://resq1250online.com/?google
My wife went from 235 cholesterol to 174 in four months. Recommended by our cardiologist.
Not bad, that's about a 25% reduction.
THANK YOU for that citation about cholesterol.....currently FIGHTING against my husband taking ANY cholesterol meds......I don't believe he needs them, but the doc thinks he does (he's 268).....
Interesting.
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