Statin News and Research

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Statins are drugs used to lower cholesterol. Your body needs some cholesterol to work properly. But if you have too much in your blood, it can stick to the walls of your arteries, narrowing or even blocking them.

Controlling low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels: an interview with Jay Edelberg, M.D., Sanofi and Bill Sasiela, Ph.D., Regeneron

Lipids, primarily cholesterol and triglycerides, come from two sources: what is naturally manufactured in the liver and what comes from the intestines through the diet.

From Sanofi 7 May 2014

AstraZeneca’s EPANOVA receives FDA approval for treatment of adults with hypertriglyceridemia

AstraZeneca today announced the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved EPANOVA (omega-3-carboxylic acids) as an adjunct to diet to reduce triglyceride levels in adults with severe hypertriglyceridemia (triglyceride levels greater than or equal to 500 mg/dL).

7 May 2014

Traditional first-line checks not good enough to identify cardiovascular disease in young firefighters

Traditional first-line checks of such heart disease risk factors as cholesterol, blood pressure and smoking habits aren’t nearly good enough to identify cardiovascular disease in otherwise healthy, young firefighters, according to results of a small Johns Hopkins study.

2 May 2014

New findings show combination of statins and omega-3 fatty acid may potentially reduce cardiovascular risk

New findings from an in vitro study, led by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), show that the combination of statins and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), an omega-3 fatty acid, may potentially reduce cardiovascular risk.

2 May 2014

Findings suggest usage of statins after surgery may reduce risk of prostate cancer recurrence

Men who begin taking statins after prostate cancer surgery are less likely to have a recurrence of their cancer, according to a retrospective analysis led by researchers at Duke Medicine.

2 May 2014

People who take statin drugs develop heart disease and obesity-related illnesses

People who take statin drugs to lower their cholesterol appear to have developed a false sense of security that could lead to heart disease and other obesity-related illnesses.

29 Apr 2014

Studies demonstrate new approaches to treating and preventing Parkinson's disease

A trio of studies from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania demonstrate new approaches to understanding, treating and potentially staving off Parkinson's disease (PD). Studies show that factors such as estrogen exposure and statin use have an impact on the onset of Parkinson's disease.

29 Apr 2014

Combination therapy could help prevent cardiovascular disease

Taking one pill instead of three could be a powerful ally to prevent cardiovascular disease, according to a new Cochrane systematic review of the latest research on polypills from a team of scientists at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Warwick Medical School and Northwestern Medicine.

16 Apr 2014

Amgen reports positive findings from AMG 145 Phase 3 studies in patients at risk for cardiovascular disease

Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) today announced new detailed data from three Phase 3 studies that showed treatment with its novel investigational cholesterol-lowering medication, evolocumab (AMG 145), resulted in a statistically significant reduction of 55-66 percent in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) compared to placebo in patients with high cholesterol.

31 Mar 2014

Study on effects of cholesterol-lowering medications on sexual health

A new study is giving hope to older men who are concerned about the effects of cholesterol-lowering medications on their sexual health.

31 Mar 2014

Popular cholesterol-lowering drugs may offer added benefit for men with erectile dysfunction

Statins are associated with a significant improvement in erectile function, a fact researchers hope will encourage men who need statins to reduce their risk of heart attack to take them, according to research to be presented at the American College of Cardiology's 63rd Annual Scientific Session.

31 Mar 2014

First Edition: March 21, 2014

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including a new examination of Ezekiel Emanuel's book about the crafting of the health law and President Obama's latest push to boost enrollment.

21 Mar 2014

Study finds new heart guidelines would put about half of older adults on statins

The New England Journal of Medicine study is the first independent assessment of guidelines released last fall on the use of the heart medications and it shows 56 million people between the ages of 40 and 75 are eligible for the treatment.

21 Mar 2014

New weapon against secondary progressive MS

Statins may provide doctors with an unlikely new weapon with which to slow the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS).

20 Mar 2014

Simvastatin may slow progression of multiple sclerosis

Results of a phase 2 study published in The Lancet suggest that simvastatin, a cheap cholesterol lowering drug, might be a potential treatment option for the secondary progressive, or chronic, stage of multiple sclerosis (MS), which is currently untreatable.

20 Mar 2014

Amgen announces results from Phase 3 TESLA Trial of evolocumab in patients with HoFH

Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) today announced that the Phase 3 TESLA (Trial Evaluating PCSK9 Antibody in Subjects with LDL Receptor Abnormalities) trial evaluating evolocumab met its primary endpoint of the percent reduction from baseline at week 12 in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C).

19 Mar 2014

Researchers create statistical model to predict whether heart scans are useful in prescribing statins

As long as inexpensive statins, which lower cholesterol, are readily available and patients don't mind taking them, it doesn't make sense to do a heart scan to measure how much plaque has built up in a patient's coronary arteries before prescribing the pills, according to a new study by researchers at UC San Francisco.

17 Mar 2014

Investigators urge drug regulators to provide clear evidence on statins’ side effects

At a time when the wider prescription of statins is under renewed public scrutiny, a substantial analysis of placebo-controlled randomised trials of statins has found that only a small minority of side effects reported by those taking the cholesterol-lowering drugs are actually attributable to them.

13 Mar 2014

Statins combined with conventional blood clot prevention therapies, reduce VTE risk by 48%

Statins have long been known to lower cholesterol and, more recently, to decrease the risk of deep vein thrombosis (blood clots) in healthy, non-surgical patients.

11 Mar 2014

High-potency statins offer improved chance of survival in heart attack patients

A study looking at the data of thousands of patients who suffered heart attacks has suggested treatment with high-potency statins offers a significantly improved chance of survival compared to those taking normal statins.

20 Feb 2014

Statin News and Research

Further Reading

Controlling low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels: an interview with Jay Edelberg, M.D., Sanofi and Bill Sasiela, Ph.D., Regeneron

AstraZeneca’s EPANOVA receives FDA approval for treatment of adults with hypertriglyceridemia

Traditional first-line checks not good enough to identify cardiovascular disease in young firefighters

New findings show combination of statins and omega-3 fatty acid may potentially reduce cardiovascular risk

Findings suggest usage of statins after surgery may reduce risk of prostate cancer recurrence

People who take statin drugs develop heart disease and obesity-related illnesses

Studies demonstrate new approaches to treating and preventing Parkinson's disease

Combination therapy could help prevent cardiovascular disease

Amgen reports positive findings from AMG 145 Phase 3 studies in patients at risk for cardiovascular disease

Study on effects of cholesterol-lowering medications on sexual health

Popular cholesterol-lowering drugs may offer added benefit for men with erectile dysfunction

First Edition: March 21, 2014

Study finds new heart guidelines would put about half of older adults on statins

New weapon against secondary progressive MS

Simvastatin may slow progression of multiple sclerosis

Amgen announces results from Phase 3 TESLA Trial of evolocumab in patients with HoFH

Researchers create statistical model to predict whether heart scans are useful in prescribing statins

Investigators urge drug regulators to provide clear evidence on statins’ side effects

Statins combined with conventional blood clot prevention therapies, reduce VTE risk by 48%

High-potency statins offer improved chance of survival in heart attack patients

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Automating research - solutions and best practices

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