cholesterol news

[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.

[Johnka]

You're not alone Wingsfan.

From the Washington Post :

Groups Blast New Cholesterol Guidelines
Most of the heart disease experts who urged more people to take cholesterol-lowering drugs this week have made money from the companies selling those medicines.

Consumer groups on Friday blasted the new cholesterol guidelines as being tainted by the influence of major pharmaceuticals that make blockbusters such as Lipitor and Pravachol. Last year, drug makers earned $26 billion worldwide on cholesterol-lowering medicines, the top-selling class of drugs.

The new guidelines issued Monday by the American Heart Association and the federal government were aimed at preventing heart attacks. They were written by nine of the country's top cholesterol experts. At least six have received consulting or speaking fees, research money or other support from makers of the most widely used anti-cholesterol drugs.

The new guidelines would add about 7 million more Americans to the 36 million already encouraged to take the pills to lower their cholesterol, according to Dr. James Cleeman, coordinator of the National Cholesterol Education Program, which drew up the guidelines. NCEP is run by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Cleeman said that regardless of connections to the drug industry, the advice to high-risk heart patients to lower their LDL, or "bad cholesterol," is sound science. The new guidelines were based on results of five drug studies since 2001, and about 80 experts besides the authors reviewed and endorsed them, Cleeman said.

But consumer advocates said the failure to make the conflicts of interest clear is inexcusable.

"It's outrageous they didn't provide disclosure of the conflicts of interest," said Merrill Goozner, with the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

"It doesn't mean that their research is wrong," Goozner added, but doctors and the public need to know "that the people who are giving you this advice have their research funded by a party who has a self interest in the outcome of that research."

Coincidentally, Goozner's group on Monday released a study showing that at least 24 of 164 studies it reviewed in four medical journals did not disclose important conflicts of their authors.

Many studies of new and existing drugs are funded by their manufacturers, and Goozner and other experts say studies showing the drugs did poorly rarely are published. Last month, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer sued drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline PLC, saying it committed fraud by withholding information about the dangers of its antidepressant Paxil to children.

The American Medical Association then urged creation of a comprehensive, government-run registry for all drug study results so unfavorable ones aren't buried. Meanwhile, Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb are quietly seeking federal approval to sell low-dose, non-prescription versions of older cholesterol drugs that already have generic competition.

The heart institute posted information on industry ties of the new guidelines' authors on its Web site Friday. Cleeman said all the authors except him "have some connection with industry."

Newsday first reported on the conflicts in Thursday's editions. They said six authors had earned money specifically from cholesterol drug makers, including Pfizer Inc., Merck & Co., Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca LP.

Cleeman and Dr. Rose Marie Robertson, chief science officer of the heart association, both said they felt financial disclosure was covered because most of the authors also worked on the last guideline update, in 2001, and made their connections known then. Cleeman said information on the two new authors is available from the organizations they represent, the heart association and the American College of Cardiology.

Dr. Sidney Wolfe, co-founder of Public Citizen's Health Research Group, said disclosure, even in a publication, is not adequate.

"These people should be disqualified from being the principal authors of publications that have the imprimatur of the government on it," he said. He noted that side effects such as possible liver and muscle damage can make the drugs more dangerous than beneficial to people who have only a moderate risk of heart attack.

The updated guidelines say people with the greatest risk of heart attack, more than a 20 percent risk in the next decade, should try to get their level of LDL, or bad cholesterol, below 70, instead of the current recommendation of below 100. For people at high or moderately high risk of heart attack, the goal should be to get the level below 100, instead of the current goal of below 130.

The risk level is determined by a calculation of risk factors, such as prior heart attack or stroke, presence of heart disease or diabetes, family history, high blood pressure and smoking. The guidelines also urge people to adapt a healthier lifestyle, by getting more exercise, losing weight, quitting smoking and other steps.

[Q.]

I recently read/heard that a lot of cardiologists take the stuff even if they don't have "high" cholesterol. Are their other, preventative benefits? I didn't read through your two lengthy posts 'cause I gotta git!