Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 16, 1995 TAG: 9511170008
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ANAHEIM, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium
While many in the medical world already accept this idea, it had never been proved. There also was lingering worry that folks who get their cholesterol down may actually somehow increase their risk of dying from other things.
``The benefits of reducing cholesterol are now established beyond any reasonable doubt,'' Dr. Terje R. Pedersen of Aker Hospital in Oslo, Norway, wrote in today's New England Journal of Medicine, where the study was published.
In this study, Scottish doctors found that otherwise healthy middle-aged men reduced their overall death rate by one-fifth during five years of taking one of a new generation of cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins.
``The mortality benefits were beyond our expectations. We were really overwhelmed,'' said Dr. James Shepherd, of the Royal Infirmary in Glasgow.
The study was limited to men, but Shepherd said he believes the conclusions will apply to women.
The $30 million study was financed by Bristol-Myers Squibb, which makes the brand of statin tested.
``This study is immensely helpful and powerful,'' said Dr. Sidney Smith Jr., president of the American Heart Association. He predicted it will lead doctors to try to lower cholesterol in the healthy rather than simply treating its effects once the damage occurs.
The study was conducted on 6,595 men ages 45 to 64 whose blood cholesterol levels measured between 250 and 300. In the United States, about one-quarter of the population has cholesterol levels this high.
The volunteers were randomly assigned to get either Pravachol, known generically as pravastatin, or placebo pills. The benefits of the medicine emerged in six months.
After five years, those getting Pravachol suffered 31 percent fewer nonfatal heart attacks. They were 32 percent less likely to die from cardiovascular disease, and their overall death rate dropped by 22 percent.
The researchers cautioned that doctors should try first to persuade patients to lower their cholesterol by eating better and exercising more.
Nevertheless, Pravachol and the three similar statin drugs on the market offer an alternative for those who cannot control their cholesterol this way. The dose given in the study costs $2.70 a day.
Pedersen said that treating cholesterol may save even more lives than getting people to take medicines for mildly elevated blood pressure.
Other recent studies have shown the benefit of statin drugs for people with high cholesterol who already have survived heart attacks.
Memo: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.