[wingsfan]

what a bunch of horseshit. lower the guidelines so that more people are eligible to take them, thus increase the profits for the pharmaceutical companies, which thus will raise health care costs........bunch of crap...


from www. freep.com:


Millions of Americans are expected to be prescribed aggressive doses of cholesterol-lowering medicines following the release of new health guidelines.

The guidelines, released Monday, set the recommended target for so-called bad or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol at 70 -- down from 100. LDL cholesterol is one of two numbers given to measure cholesterol.

As many as 36 million people in the United States might benefit from cholesterol-lowering drugs under the new guidelines. That could prove economically significant for Pfizer Inc., a major Michigan pharmaceutical company that produces Lipitor, the biggest-selling cholesterol-lowering drug in the world, with $5.8 billion in U.S. sales alone.

"The lower the better for high-risk people, that's the message . . ." said Scott Grundy, chair of the panel of health experts that released the new guidelines. They were published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Though aimed at people with established heart disease, the guidelines will affect the general population, said Dr. Douglas Westveer, director of cardiology at Beaumont Hospital in Troy.

Most people without a risk of heart disease should aim to lower their LDL cholesterol to 130 and their high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels to 45 to 60, particularly for men 60 and older. For years, doctors have told patients to aim to keep their combined cholesterol numbers to 200 or less.

Westveer and other cardiologists also expect that doctors will prescribe a second medicine or increase doses of cholesterol-lowering medicines because of the new guidelines.

"This will have a major impact," said Dr. Souheil Saba, cardiologist at Providence Hospital and Medical Centers in Southfield. "Now large sections of the public will qualify for more aggressive therapy."

The guidelines follow an analysis by a government panel of five major clinical studies involving cholesterol-lowering medications. The government's lead agency on heart disease and two national groups of heart experts endorse them.

Dr. Thomas Davis, a cardiologist at Detroit's Harper University Hospital, said the guidelines follow studies showing that very low LDL levels reduce a risk of a second heart attack by 30 percent to 50 percent within five years.

Though cardiologists have recommended low LDL levels for several years, "this will help standardize heart care for high-risk patients," he said. Many patients at risk of a heart attack are treated by primary care physicians, who may not follow cardiologists' recommendations as closely.

The guidelines also should help convince people reluctant to take cholesterol-lowering drugs of the significance of taking them, Davis said.

"Many patients either don't want to take medicine or think their cholesterol isn't so bad and they'll just watch their diet," he said.

The reality is that diet and exercise alone often are unsuccessful in reaching the new levels, said Dr. Michael Hudson, director of the coronary care unit at Detroit's Henry Ford Hospital.

"Smaller changes in diet, which most people are able to do, won't come close" to the new recommended levels, he said.

Some patients are reluctant to take cholesterol-lowering medicines because of the side effects, primarily irritation of the stomach and a small risk of liver damage. Fortunately, Hudson said, "higher doses only raise the risk a few decimal points," he said. "It's very small." To check for liver problems, patients are tested before being put on the drugs, shortly afterward, and then yearly, he said.

Rick Chambers, spokesman for Pfizer, said he expects the guidelines will increase sales. "It certainly appears that this will open the door to new patients," he said.

Lipitor was discovered in Ann Arbor by scientists working at the time for Parke-Davis Co., later bought by Pfizer. In some patients, it achieves cholesterol reductions of as much as 65 percent. Pfizer employs 9,000 people in Michigan.

Every year, 1.2 million Americans have a new or repeat heart attack.