A new drug combination discovered to help reverse the build of up plaque in arteries

in #health7 years ago

As some of us already might know, heart disease is one of the leading causes of death. A new combination of drugs has been shown to reduce LDL cholesterol to very low levels and even has been shown in a study to shrink the plaque clogging the arteries. Logically this should reduce the risk of a heart attack because there would be less plaque which can break off to cause one.

The new drug is called a PCSK9 Inhibitor. It has been found that people missing the PCSK9 gene have very low LDL levels. The PCSK9 Inhibitor is a class of drug which mimics this and when used in combination with a statin the study has produced encouraging results.

Results:

The people who took statins and evolocumab had greater reductions in atherosclerosis compared with people who took statins and a placebo. Atherosclerosis is a disease in which plaque builds up inside your arteries. The condition can lead to serious problems, including heart attack, stroke, or even death.

Those in the study had conditions such as a clogged artery and other habits such as being smokers which means these participants were of the high risk factor variety. Some of the participants were given a placebo and some were given the PCSK9 inhibitor to test the effectiveness. The results clearly showed on the ultrasound that the plaques shrank after 18 months. Whether this alone will have a positive health effect in terms of lower heart related deaths is not yet known but it does look very positive as it does reduce the risk of a plaque breaking off and causing a heart attack if there is less plaque.

References


  1. https://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2016-11-15/cholesterol-drug-shows-promise-to-help-reverse-heart-disease
  2. https://www.drugs.com/slideshow/pcsk9-inhibitors-a-new-option-in-cholesterol-treatment-1166
  3. http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1500858
Sort:  

Wow this is a great piece of information. This research can be a big breakthrough in the medicine world especially in the field of cardio. These days more and more people are falling prey to heart attacks at a very tender age. I hope this new drug brings down the number of deaths by heart attack in the world.

I wouldn't touch statins with a barge pole. All about Big Pharma getting your cash one way or another!

Nicotonic acid has been known to lower blood cholesterol for years, and it is around 10$ a bottle at chemists around the world. Pharma quacks just want to invent artificial chemicals so they can patent them, and charge a fortune for them, even though they are less effective than naturally occurring chemicals, and have side effects. Even better for lowering blood cholesterol, and making it impossible to have a heart attack from atherosclerosis is a plant based diet.

Niacin may have side effects though.

Not compared to artificial chemicals that didn't exist anywhere in the entire universe until man made them in the lab, and were never intended to exist in the body.

This is a good news and relief for families that have loved once with such issue. Thanks for sharing

This is certainly interesting news. IM on Lipitor for a valve related issue that gives me high blood pressure. I also have a high LDL count which I hope to correct sooner than later... Family traits are hard to correct though. So this bit of information is really good to know.. Thanks for posting..

I guess big pharma are not all evil. I wonder how long it will take, after this drug is in widespread use, for the conspiracy theories to come out? Around 5 years I reckon.

Anyway, bloody good news!

Next stop, the 4 deadliest cancers...

Cg

Mercie pour cette info . Si tu peux upvote sa ferai plaisir ☺

precise and well written article on the new drugs discovered by scientist to sure heart disease...Medical discovery is going advance day by day....

Any idea how this compares to red yeast rice? I am currently fermenting red yeast rice, to eat and drink the delicious low alcohol brew. Delicous, effective and cheap, cheap, cheap!

this "new drug " is life-saving .Any potential side effects?