Experimental Cholesterol Lowering Treatment Offers Hope for Millions
Staying healthy by taking care of yourself is especially important and eating right is a big part of it. So is staying on top of mostly silent health conditions that are easily found through checkups and simple blood tests.
High cholesterol is one of these conditions, but it can usually be treated with statins – like Lipitor and Crestor – that block the production of cholesterol, reported Science Alert. For many people, statins are not enough to lower their LDL (bad cholesterol). Now an experimental oral PCSK9 Inhibitor pill, named enlicitide, offers an easy-to-use treatment for people at risk of heart disease and strokes.
Since heart disease is the US’s leading cause of death and high LDT cholesterol which is responsible for the build up of plaque in your arteries contributes to it, this new study that was conducted at UT Southwestern Medical Center and published in the New England Journal of Medicine gives hope to millions of people.
About the Study
The current treatment for people who need more than just statins are injectable PCSK9 inhibitors that are expensive and difficult to use. That’s why this research is so important.
More than 2,909 high risk people took part in the study, AP News reported. This blind study assigned half to take a daily enlicitide pill or a placebo to their standard treatment.
“The study population reflects what we see in clinical practice,” Dr. Ann Marie Navar, a cardiologist at UT Southwestern Medical Center study lead author told AP. “Even the highest intensity statins are often not enough to get people to their cholesterol goals.”
The participants who took enlicitide showed a drop in cholesterol by as much as 60 percent over a six-month period.
While there are other pills that can be used, Navar said, “none come close to the degree of LDL cholesterol lowering that we see with enlicitide.”
Practicality
Merck Sharp & Dohme, a subsidiary of Merck, funded the study and the company is seeking FDA approval. Enlicitide has been added to a program for ultra-fast reviews.
But the study doesn’t contain data that the cholesterol reduction translates into lower risks of heart attacks or strokes. That will take time to prove. Merck is currently working on a study with more than 14,000 participants to obtain the data.
While the treatment has not been approved yet, it offers hope for an effective and painless way to treat high cholesterol. But eating healthy, exercising, and seeing your physician regularly will ensure that prevention is the best medicine.
