![]() What are the differences between statins? Reduce the risk of further heart disease in people with type 2 diabetes or coronary artery disease.Reduce a person’s risk of having a heart attack or stroke or developing angina.Statins are most effective at lowering LDL-cholesterol (this is commonly referred to as “bad” cholesterol) Lower high cholesterol (also known as hyperlipidemia or dyslipidemia).Lowering cholesterol and other types of fats is important because research has shown that elevated levels of total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, and apolipoprotein B increase a person’s risk of developing heart disease or having a stroke. Most of the effects of statins, including the blocking of the HMG-CoA reductase enzyme) occurs in the liver. Statins also increase the number of LDL receptors on liver cells, which enhances the uptake and breakdown of LDL-cholesterol. Nissen says statins will "continue to be the cornerstone of therapy to prevent cardiovascular events." But for people who simply cannot tolerate a statin, he says, "we have an alternative for them.Statins (also called HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors) block an enzyme called HMG-CoA reductase (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase) that is involved in the synthesis of mevalonate, a naturally occurring substance that is used by the body to make sterols, including cholesterol.īy inhibiting this enzyme, cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol production is decreased. There is currently no generic for Nexletol. Kluczynski's insurance plan covers the cost of Nexletol, but it can cost about $400 per month for people who are not covered by insurance. Statins are also relatively inexpensive with many patients paying less than $10 a month, given the many options, including generics. It's important to point out that statins are very well-tolerated by millions of people, Nissen says, and there's "enormous amounts of evidence that they reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke and death from cardiovascular causes." "We do our own analyses and we report the adverse events very carefully because every drug has benefits and risks." "My statisticians generated all the numbers in the manuscript," he says. The study was funded in part by the maker of the drug, Esperion Therapeutics, but Nissen explains his team works independently. But the benefits of taking the drug " far outweigh the small risks that we observed in the trial," study author Nissen told NPR. And the study also found a small increase in the number of people who developed gallstones (2% in the bempedoic group, 1% in the placebo group). Researchers say bempedoic acid was generally well-tolerated by people in the trial but there were some reported risks, including an increased incidence of gout, which was reported in 3% of the bemepedoic acid group, compared to 2% of the placebo group. And, unlike statin drugs, bempedoic acid is mostly metabolized in the liver, not in peripheral tissues, like muscle, so Alexander says it "has few, if any, muscle-related side effects." In the clinical trial, myalgias, which are muscle aches or pains, were reported more among people taking the placebo (6.8%), compared to those taking bempedoic acid (5.6%). Shots - Health News Daily 'breath training' can work as well as medicine to reduce high blood pressureīempedoic acid is a prodrug, which means it is activated by an enzyme after the medication enters the body. "This is working for me wonderfully and I'm not having any side effects," Kluczynski says. Her doctor prescribed Nexletol about two years ago, and she says she feels much better and hasn't "been achy."Īnd her cholesterol levels remain well controlled by the medicine. Some days she just wanted to go back to bed. "I felt like I had the flu" without the fever, she explains. Jennifer Kluczynski, 55, of Lambertville, Mich., had tried multiple statins but experienced lots of muscle aches and pains. "Bempedoic acid has now entered the list of evidence-based alternatives to statins," Alexander wrote in an editorial, published alongside the study. John Alexander, a cardiologist and professor at Duke University. With these findings, the benefits of the medication are now clearer, says Dr. There was also a 19% reduction in coronary revascularizations, which are procedures that restore blood flow to the heart, such as a bypass operation or stenting to open arteries. ![]() People who took daily doses of bempedoic acid for more than three years had about a 23% lower risk of having a heart attack, in that period, compared to those taking a placebo. "The big effect was on heart attacks," says study author Dr. ![]()
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