Word: pravastatin
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...much as 30 points. A fix that quick comes at a price, however, as Baycol users learned this fall. The popular statin was pulled off the market after health officials discovered that a disturbing number of users were suffering from muscle disorders. Other statins, including atorvastatin, lovastatin and pravastatin, remain safe, according...
...first statins were approved in the U.S. in 1987, they didn't really take off until 1994, when researchers in Scandinavia proved that simvastatin (brand name Zocor) could significantly decrease a heart patient's risk of dying from a second heart attack. After investigators showed that both simvastatin and pravastatin (Pravachol) could cut the number of first heart attacks among those with high cholesterol, doctors assumed that all statins could do likewise...
...recognized the importance of the study, which showed that in men and women with normal and near normal cholesterol levels, treatment with Mevacor reduced the incidence of first coronary events such as heart attack or unstable angina 36%. Unfortunately, the article incorrectly cited the generic name of Mevacor as pravastatin. The correct generic name is lovastatin. JOHN BLOOMFIELD, Director, Public Affairs Merck & Co., Inc. West Point...
...sweeping study, more than 6,600 people with average total cholesterol of 220--just above the optimal 200--were placed on a cholesterol-lowering regimen of diet and exercise. Additionally, half took daily doses of the cholesterol drug pravastatin, while the other half took a placebo. After five years, the group taking the real drug was 36% less likely to have suffered a first heart attack and 33% less likely to have needed coronary bypass or angioplasty. What's more, their bad LDLs had fallen 25% while their good HDLs had risen...
...results, though dramatic, have met with some skepticism. The study was funded by Merck & Co., which sells pravastatin under the name Mevacor. Regular Mevacor treatments can cost $1,200 a year, and with 8 million people in the U.S. having slightly elevated cholesterol, Merck could have a huge new market. For now, however, doctors are impressed, concluding that what's good for Merck could also be good for patients...