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LipitorCare News » November 06

Raising 'good' cholesterol may be better than lowering the 'bad'
20 Nov. 2006

Raising "good" cholesterol may be more important than lowering "bad" cholesterol to reduce the risk of heart disease, new research suggests.

About 45 per cent of Canadian women and 48 per cent of Canadian men have cholesterol levels that are unhealthy. "Bad" cholesterol, known as LDL or low-density lipoprotein, gets deposited in the walls of artery, leading to heart attacks and strokes.

Drugs known as statins are now among the top-selling medications, lowering LDL levels dramatically. But now, researchers are looking for new ways to help people with cholesterol problems.

"We can cut your chance of having another heart attack by using statins [to] between one third and one half," said Dr. Scott Grundy from Dallas, whose team brought the first statin to market nearly 20 years ago.

"Now that leaves half the risk untouched, and probably statins are not going to touch that, so we have to have new approaches," added Grundy.

Some 60 per cent of high-risk patients who lower their LDL levels will still get heart disease. Some research suggests it's because their good cholesterol levels, called HDL or high-density lipoprotein, are too low.

The experimental drug is being developed by Pfizer, the company that now holds the patent on the best-selling statin, Lipitor. The patent is due to expire in 2010, however, and the company hopes to seek regulatory approval for its new HDL in the next two years, aiming to replace one blockbuster drug with another.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2006/11/20/cholesterol.html