2 cholesterol-lowering drugs combination can cut heart attack: Study
What's the story
A recent study has indicated that the combination of two cholesterol-lowering medications could save nearly 50,000 lives every year in the US.
Cardiologist Maciej Banach from Poland's John Paul II Catholic University and his team found that combining a statin with ezetimibe can significantly reduce the risk of early death by 19%, major cardiovascular events by 18%, and strokes by 17%.
The findings were published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
New approach
Study challenges existing treatment protocols
The study's findings question the existing protocol of giving high-dose statins alone and waiting for two months before adding ezetimibe.
Banach's team made their recommendations based on an analysis of 14 studies with over 108,000 patients with blocked arteries.
Co-author Peter Toth said that "combined cholesterol-lowering therapy should be considered immediately and should be the gold standard for treatment of very high-risk patients."
"[The combination] approach does not require additional funding or reimbursement of new expensive drugs," Toth said.
Global statistics
Impact of cardiovascular diseases
Cardiovascular disease, mainly due to high blood pressure, cigarette use, obesity, diabetes, physical inactivity, and high cholesterol, takes about 20 million lives every year globally.
In the US alone, nearly 94 million adults have borderline high cholesterol levels.
Statins are often prescribed to decrease cholesterol production in the liver and lower LDL cholesterol levels in the blood.
Ezetimibe (Zetia) prevents the small intestine from absorbing cholesterol.
Expert opinions
Experts endorse early combination therapy
Commenting on the finding, Dr. Benjamin Hirsh, director of preventative cardiology at North Shore University Hospital, said he hoped that early combination therapy would become the norm.
He stressed on the need for aggressive LDL cholesterol reduction for high-risk patients and criticized the 'wait-and-see' approach adopted by doctors.
Hirsh said, "For very high-risk patients, there is no reason to wait."