Cholesterol Solutions Today:The Good & The Bad

AP - Leading doctors urged a return to older, tried-and-true treatments for high cholesterol after hearing full results Sunday of a failed trial of Vytorin.

AP - Leading doctors urged a return to older, tried-and-true treatments for high cholesterol after hearing full results Sunday of a failed trial of Vytorin.

The highest rate of stroke hospitalizations among Medicare beneficiaries exists among African-Americans and in counties located primarily in the southeastern states, according to a new report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in collaboration with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

AFP - New clinical trials have increased doubts about the efficiency of Merck and Schering-Plough's prized anti-cholesterol drug Vytorin and its ability to fight cardiovascular disease, according to medical data released here.

AFP - New clinical trials have increased doubts about the efficiency of Merck and Schering-Plough's prized anti-cholesterol drug Vytorin and its ability to fight cardiovascular disease, according to medical data released here.

Some Japanese are questioning standards for cholesterol care after learning that university docs involved in drawing up guidelines received donations from some of the same drugmakers that make and sell meds for metabolic syndrome and high cholesterol, The Daily Yomiuri reports. In fact, the docs received far more cash than other docs. The issue is raising questions about whether researchers who have received corporate donations can remain impartial.
Meanwhile, the paper adds that some experts are skeptical about the guidelines due to their low thresholds, which are capable of categorizing healthy people as being sick and in need of medication. The standard for determining whether a person has high cholesterol is set in line with Japan Atherosclerosis Society guidelines, which defines a total cholesterol count of over 220 as being high. This compares to the U.S. level of 240. Compared with this higher level, patient levels double if the figure of 220 is used.
Tomohito Hamazaki, a professor at Toyama University’s Faculty of Medicine, says that if the lower figure is used, half of all middle-aged and elderly women would be diagnosed as having high cholesterol. “The number of patients has been increased unnecessarily, which resulted in an excessive use of drugs,” he tells the paper.
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Results of ENHANCE (Ezetimibe aNd simvastatin in Hypercholesterolemia enhANces atherosClerosis rEgression), an imaging trial in 720 patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH), a rare genetic condition that causes very high levels of LDL “bad” cholesterol and greatly increases

UroToday.com - No disease is local! As we continue to investigate the origins of illness, we are learning that most surgical disease, which is invariably localized, is the effect of a multifactorial cause. In urolithiasis, we are now beginning to understand that there is an association, between obesity and urolithiasis (i.e. the metabolic syndrome). The metabolic syndrome also includes hyperlipidemia, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension.

Reuters - New data about the controversial
cholesterol fighter Vytorin failed to quell concerns that the
drug might not be as good as thought at keeping heart disease
at bay, leading an expert panel to recommend on Sunday that
patients stick with statins.

Reuters - New data about the controversial
cholesterol fighter Vytorin failed to quell concerns that the
drug might not be as good as thought at keeping heart disease
at bay, leading an expert panel to recommend on Sunday that
patients stick with statins.