New Drug Helps Cholesterol Levels Dip
11.03.10
A randomized controlled trial reported that thyroid hormone analogue, eprotirome, reduced LDL cholesterol by up to 32% beyond statins alone, an effect greater than doubling the dosage of statins. This study was conducted by researchers at the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm and is reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.
This study included 189 patients with elevated cholesterol levels of 116 mg/dL or higher and were on a stable dose of simvastatin (Zocor) or atorvastatin (Lipitor). Investigators randomized them to placebo or eprotirome at a dose of 25, 50, or 100 μg daily for 12 weeks. The results showed between a 7 and 32% decline in cholesterol levels and did not cause the feared side effects on the heart and other organs reported earlier with similar thyroid-based treatments.
The other benefits of the trial include the lowering of levels of other detrimental lipids along with LDL cholesterol. “There was no doubt that eprotirome would lower LDL cholesterol. Thyroid hormone is nature’s own statin. The first importance of the trial is that it shows hepatic [liver] targeting of hormonal action,” said Dr. Paul W. Ladenson, a professor of endocrinology and metabolism at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and lead author of a report on the trial. “The second exciting part is its impact on lipids other than LDL cholesterol.”
Source: Biomed Middle East
New Thyroid Medicine Works As Well As Statins, Study Shows
11.03.10
-- Has been under development by a Swedish biotech company for about four years, explained Dr. Irwin Klein of the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset.
Klein, a member of an international team of researchers who studied the new drug, said the synthetic compound mimics thyroid hormone in the body, reducing cholesterol but not producing the bothersome side effects associated with statins -- or other thyroid hormone-based drugs.
As a cardiovascular drug, he said eprotirome reduces the bad form of cholesterol and also reduces lipoprotein-A, a key marker for cardiovascular disease.
Klein, an endocrinologist who has studied thyroid function and thyroid hormones for 30 years, said the concept for the new medication is based on simple observations of people with thyroid function disorders.
People with an underactive thyroid, Klein said, tend to have high cholesterol.
On the flip side, those with highly active thyroid function tend to have low cholesterol levels. Yet, when thyroid hormone is prescribed to accelerate the gland’s function, levels of the so-called bad form of cholesterol reduce but a host of other problems arise: heart palpitations, bone thinning and muscle weakness, to name a few.
Source: PharmaLive.com (press release)
Zocor could be alternative for those taking Lipitor: the You Docs
23.02.10
I'm taking the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor and am considering switching to the generic form of Zocor (simvastatin) because it's cheaper and my insurance doesn't have a prescription-drug program. My doctor tells me that Zocor is the same as what I'm taking but not as potent (he says that 40 milligrams of Zocor translates to 20 milligrams of Lipitor). Is it smart to switch?
It may be worth a shot, especially if your cardiologist is making the call and low HDL isn't the issue.
Both Lipitor (atorvastatin) and Zocor (simvastatin) are in a class of drugs called statins, which reduce blood levels of LDL, the lousy type of cholesterol. All the statins work slightly differently, though they all slow your body's production of LDL cholesterol Of these two, as your doc said, Lipitor is more potent, and it's usually prescribed when your lousy (LDL) cholesterol levels are very high. Lipitor also increases healthy HDL cholesterol in many people, which simvastatin doesn't do (you want high HDL).
Source: Plain Dealer
monitoring board decided the study should continue, the study might still show Vytorin works no better than a much-cheaper generic version of Zocor.
This study included 189 patients with elevated cholesterol levels of 116 mg/dL or higher and were on a stable dose of simvastatin (Zocor) or atorvastatin