Panelists wondered about the clinical effect of lowering LDL cholesterol from 400 to 300.
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It is now widely accepted that high LDL cholesterol is a risk factor for heart disease.
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Physicians have been working hard for years to help patients reduce their "bad" LDL cholesterol.
Zetia and Vytorin were both approved by the FDA based on their ability to lower LDL cholesterol.
Takeda's pill, TAK-475, aimed to lower LDL cholesterol in a different way than either the statins or Zetia.
Because LDL cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease, it's the main focus of cholesterol-lowering treatment.
The companies attributed delays to difficulties in imaging data, and emphasized that Vytorin lowers LDL cholesterol more than Zocor.
These patients saw their LDL cholesterol reduced 25%, as compared to 4% who took a sugar pill instead of Zetia.
The CHMP noted that Kynamro was effective at reducing LDL cholesterol levels in patients with homozygous and severe heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia.
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There is no evidence that really low LDL cholesterol levels are harmful.
It's the drug that can lower your bad cholesterol or LDL cholesterol.
Taylor, head of cardiology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, says the results "cast into doubt" the basic mechanism by which Zetia cuts LDL cholesterol.
Lowering LDL cholesterol, some doctors asserted, might not prevent heart attacks.
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It also cuts LDL cholesterol by somewhat more than Lipitor alone.
In general, the lower your LDL cholesterol level is, the better.
Ideally, AAP's target level for LDL cholesterol is 130 or below.
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Like many others, I am looking forward to seeing the final IMPROVE-IT results as it will add to our basic understanding of LDL cholesterol and heart disease treatments.
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Both compounds, when administered alone, lower LDL cholesterol in patients.
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People can use the experience of suffering from illness as a catalyst for transforming their lives in ways that go beyond lowering their LDL cholesterol or unclogging their arteries.
Another Zetia benefit: In studies, some patients not only saw "bad" LDL cholesterol decrease, they also saw a slight increase in "good" HDL cholesterol, which is thought to be better for health.
These inhibitors represent a totally new way to lower LDL cholesterol and many companies are racing to bring such a drug to market including Amgen (AMGN), Pfizer (PFE), Roche and Lilly (LLY).
Furthermore, landmark studies such as the Lipid Research Clinics Coronary Primary Prevention Trial (LRC-CPPT) and the Scandanavian Simvastatin Survival Study (4S) showed that lowering LDL cholesterol has the direct result of reducing cardiovascular (CV) deaths.
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Whereas LDL brings cholesterol to the artery wall, where it collects in heart attack-causing plaques, HDL carts it away.
In the review, the expert panel notes that while there is robust evidence supporting the association between LDL-cholesterol levels and cardiovascular disease, the association between triglyceride levels and cardiovascular disease is more uncertain.
The mutation carriers had less artery calcification, indicating that they had healthier hearts as well as higher HDL (good cholesterol), and lower triglycerides and LDL (bad cholesterol).
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Regular intake of soy protein and the omega-3 fatty acids in tofu, can reduce cholesterol levels by as much as 30% and LDL (bad cholesterol) by 30%-40%.
The addition of Kynamro helps to reduce low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), apolipoprotein B, total cholesterol, and non-high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (non HDL-C).
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While the shrimp diet did increase people's so-called bad cholesterol or LDL slightly, it also boosted their so-called good cholesterol or HDL enough to offset the increase in bad cholesterol.
KYNAMRO, given as a 200 mg weekly subcutaneous injection, has been approved as an adjunct to lipid-lowering medications and diet to reduce low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), apolipoprotein B (Apo B), total cholesterol (TC), and non-high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (non HDL-C) in patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH).
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Robert Spiegel, Schering's chief medical officer, points out that Nissen himself has said that lowering bad cholesterol, or LDL, is the "cornerstone" of cholesterol therapy.
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