Word: statin
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...statin and fibrate study, about 5,500 patients with diabetes and at least one other health problem were given cholesterol-lowering statins; half were also given a triglyceride-lowering fibrate. There was no difference in heart-attack and stroke rates between the groups. (See the top 10 medical breakthroughs...
...even more stunning. Using data from previous clinical trials on salt intake and blood pressure, the researchers found that reducing sodium by 3 g per day would be as good for the heart as cutting tobacco use by half, lowering one's body mass index 5% or taking statin medications to lower cholesterol. Even more surprising, cutting salt by 3 g per day was as effective in reducing death rates among people with hypertension as taking medication to control blood pressure. (See the 10 worst fast-food meals...
...cholesterol numbers are drawn from an advertisement for the statin Zocor - a drug that the authors are careful not to dismiss out of hand, since it can indeed save lives, just not as many as its makers would like you to believe. The ad openly touts the 42% figure, which is based on a study in which 111 out of 2,221 people with heart disease who used Zocor later died of a heart attack. In a control group of heart patients who used a placebo, 189 out of 2,223 died. So the fact is there were indeed...
...similar analysis by Daniel Hall, an Episcopal priest and a surgeon at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, found that church attendance accounts for two to three additional years of life. To be sure, he also found that exercise accounts for three to five extra years and statin therapy for 2.5 to 3.5. Still, joining a flock and living longer do appear to be linked. (Read "The Year in Medicine 2008: From...
While the bulk of prevented deaths in statin-takers were attributable to heart-related factors, the authors note that mortality from other illnesses, such as cancer, also declined. That leads the authors to hypothesize that statins may benefit the body in many different ways. "The benefit cannot be explained by a reduction in cardiac death alone," said the study's lead author, Dr. Anthony Heymann, in an email. "It must mean that there are a large number of additional factors involved in preventing death that are influenced by taking statin medication...