Exciting New Cholesterol Drugs - But Not Ready for Prime Time
Several companies are developing new cholesterol lowering drugs and there's likely to be news about these from the American Heart Association meeting. They work in a new way - they're not "statins" so there's hope that the (few) people who can't tolerate statins can take them instead. They may also be helpful for the (few) people whose cholesterol can't be adequately controlled with statin drugs. Nice article in Wall Street Journal if you'd like more information. While they make the lab report look better (lower the cholesterol number) what remains to be seen is whether they actually lower the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Posted by: Scott W. Yates, MD, MBA, MS, FACP