New Report Suggests Statin Drugs May Help People with Normal Cholesterol Levels

Fox News.com recently reported on a study by U.S. researchers which suggests people in good health with normal cholesterol blood levels may be helped by taking statin cholesterol medication. Some people with normal (or even low) cholesterol may even benefit more than those who are suffering from high cholesterol levels. The study centered on people who had normal readings of cholesterol; however, did have elevated levels of a particular protein. This protein, called C-reactive, is a marker for inflammation and can be a contributor to cardiac problems. Patients showing an increase in the C-reactive protein who took statin cholesterol drugs showed a reduced risk for serious cardiac conditions such as heart attack, stroke, and congested arteries. Some researchers are recommending that people be screened routinely for this protein to help prevent heart attacks in a broader base of Americans. Currently, such a screening is not done and this could be a contributing factor for those people experiencing heart attack who had otherwise normal cholesterol readings.

This is not the first research of its kind but it is receiving a great deal of attention by both medical practioners and the national population. Dr. Paul Ridker of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston led a another significant study conducted in 2008, referred to as Jupiter, which gave the cholesterol drug Rosuvastatin Calcium (Crestor®) to healthy patients to reduce their rate of cardiac-related death and complications. He suggests the U.S. medical community may need to change the way it tries to prevent cardiac disease. The determining factor in these studies is the measurement of the amount of people who have to use a drug over a period of time to realize a health benefit (called NNT or number needed to treat). In this more recent study, medical researchers considered the number of patients who had low cholesterol levels with high readings of C-reactive protein who would have to take a statin drug such as Atorvastatin (Lipitor®), Simvastatin (Zocor®), or Rosuvastatin Calcium (Crestor®) for five year duration before the medication would inhibit cardiac problems. The number was the same or even greater than the amount needed to avert cardiovascular disease in people taking statin drugs who had elevated levels of cholesterol. The findings are especially encouraging when considering heart disease is the #1 cause of death in the United States. In additional to the current emphasis on a healthy lifestyle and the use of cholesterol-lowering drugs by people with known cardiac risk, a pharmaceutical preventative method for the otherwise healthy population may make a real difference in improving the nation’s heart health.