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A Cholesterol Drug That Could Help Even if You Don't Have High Cholesterol

Aired July 29, 2003 - 06:52   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A cholesterol drug that could help you even if you don't have high cholesterol. It could be. With 118 million prescriptions written last year, odds are you or someone you know is taking this drug.
Dr. Sandra Fryhofer is here to tell us about statins. And they could help fight heart failure, as well?

DR. SANDRA FRYHOFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're exactly right, Carol. And these statins are a powerful class of drugs that help fight heart disease by lowering cholesterol levels. But a new study in circulation which is in the "Journal of the American Heart Association" shows that you could benefit from this drug even if you have a normal cholesterol.

Now, this study was a small Japanese study of 50 heart failure patients who were given either a statin drug called Simvsatatin -- this is sold as Zocor in this country -- or a placebo. And researchers found that after only 14 weeks of therapy, 40 percent of the people on the statins had improvement in heart failure symptoms, as compared to only 16 percent taking the placebo.

Now, we already knew that these statins could help stave off heart failure in people with cardiac artery disease who had high cholesterol levels, but this is the first study to show benefit in heart failure patients that have normal cholesterols.

COSTELLO: Now, you say heart failure, but that doesn't necessarily mean heart attack.

FRYHOFER: Right, it doesn't mean heart attack. What it means is the pump, the heart pump is not functioning correctly. And nearly five million Americans have this heart failure. It's expensive to treat. It's deadly. Heart failure patients are six to nine times more likely to die of sudden cardiac death than the general population. It's a major cause of hospitalization. It accounts for 20 percent of all hospitalizations for people over the age of 65. And, again, it occurs when the heart can't pump enough blood to meet the body's needs.

Now, current recommendations include fluid and salt restriction -- you just talked about how much salt is in our diet -- along with multiple other medications, diuretics, beta blockers, ace inhibitors. And it now seems that we may be adding statins to that list. They also may benefit some of these patients. And the researchers believe that the statins help, in this case, by improving blood vessel function, by correcting the hormonal imbalances that occur and also by suppressing inflammation.

COSTELLO: And statins have become kind of a wonder drug because they could help with other conditions, as well.

FRYHOFER: That's right. And you've probably read about this in "Newsweek."

COSTELLO: "Newsweek."

FRYHOFER: I see you've got it right here. A recent study showed that they can lower the risk of Alzheimer's Disease. They're also being studied as a possible treatment for multiple sclerosis and even osteoporosis. Animal studies have found that these statins increase new bone formation. But a recent study in the "Annals of Internal Medicine" did not pan out. It found that women who took the statins were just as likely to have fractures as women who did not take them.

Now, these statin drugs do carry some risks. The main ones, they can cause liver problems. They can also cause muscle inflammation. This is called myopathy. Remember, this is a small study. It's only preliminary. Larger studies are needed to verify these findings before the statins can be recommended for patients with this kind of heart failure. But good news for the makers of Zocor.

COSTELLO: Yes, really. That's very good news for them, huh? But check with your doctor first to see if you can take them.

FRYHOFER: Of course.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Dr. Fryhofer.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




High Cholesterol>


Aired July 29, 2003 - 06:52   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A cholesterol drug that could help you even if you don't have high cholesterol. It could be. With 118 million prescriptions written last year, odds are you or someone you know is taking this drug.
Dr. Sandra Fryhofer is here to tell us about statins. And they could help fight heart failure, as well?

DR. SANDRA FRYHOFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're exactly right, Carol. And these statins are a powerful class of drugs that help fight heart disease by lowering cholesterol levels. But a new study in circulation which is in the "Journal of the American Heart Association" shows that you could benefit from this drug even if you have a normal cholesterol.

Now, this study was a small Japanese study of 50 heart failure patients who were given either a statin drug called Simvsatatin -- this is sold as Zocor in this country -- or a placebo. And researchers found that after only 14 weeks of therapy, 40 percent of the people on the statins had improvement in heart failure symptoms, as compared to only 16 percent taking the placebo.

Now, we already knew that these statins could help stave off heart failure in people with cardiac artery disease who had high cholesterol levels, but this is the first study to show benefit in heart failure patients that have normal cholesterols.

COSTELLO: Now, you say heart failure, but that doesn't necessarily mean heart attack.

FRYHOFER: Right, it doesn't mean heart attack. What it means is the pump, the heart pump is not functioning correctly. And nearly five million Americans have this heart failure. It's expensive to treat. It's deadly. Heart failure patients are six to nine times more likely to die of sudden cardiac death than the general population. It's a major cause of hospitalization. It accounts for 20 percent of all hospitalizations for people over the age of 65. And, again, it occurs when the heart can't pump enough blood to meet the body's needs.

Now, current recommendations include fluid and salt restriction -- you just talked about how much salt is in our diet -- along with multiple other medications, diuretics, beta blockers, ace inhibitors. And it now seems that we may be adding statins to that list. They also may benefit some of these patients. And the researchers believe that the statins help, in this case, by improving blood vessel function, by correcting the hormonal imbalances that occur and also by suppressing inflammation.

COSTELLO: And statins have become kind of a wonder drug because they could help with other conditions, as well.

FRYHOFER: That's right. And you've probably read about this in "Newsweek."

COSTELLO: "Newsweek."

FRYHOFER: I see you've got it right here. A recent study showed that they can lower the risk of Alzheimer's Disease. They're also being studied as a possible treatment for multiple sclerosis and even osteoporosis. Animal studies have found that these statins increase new bone formation. But a recent study in the "Annals of Internal Medicine" did not pan out. It found that women who took the statins were just as likely to have fractures as women who did not take them.

Now, these statin drugs do carry some risks. The main ones, they can cause liver problems. They can also cause muscle inflammation. This is called myopathy. Remember, this is a small study. It's only preliminary. Larger studies are needed to verify these findings before the statins can be recommended for patients with this kind of heart failure. But good news for the makers of Zocor.

COSTELLO: Yes, really. That's very good news for them, huh? But check with your doctor first to see if you can take them.

FRYHOFER: Of course.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Dr. Fryhofer.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




High Cholesterol>