Statins are considered to be the No. 1 agent at an elevated level of "bad" cholesterol, according to an online edition for girls and women aged 14-35 who have been diagnosed with Pannochka. net But other treatments are also effective when it comes to protecting against heart attack or stroke.
A new report of American scientists is devoted to the old dispute about statins and diet.
The most effective alternatives scientists recognized healthy diet, lipid-lowering drugs of other groups, as well as bariatric surgery ("suturing" the intestine).
Statin therapy (atorvastatin and simvastatin) reduces the risk of cardiovascular events by 23% for every 1 mmol / L of LDL. At the same time, alternative drugs and methods reduce the risk by 25% for every 1 mmol / l.
The relationship between LDL and the likelihood of heart attacks and strokes was linear.
"Combining statins and alternative methods yields even more tangible results," says study author Marc Sabatine, a cardiologist at the Brigham Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.
Sabatin and his colleagues made an attempt to compare the effectiveness of statins and other methods of controlling cholesterol, not focusing on the numbers in the analyzes, but on the real risk of cardiovascular events - the very end result for which everything is done.
According to national statistics, in 2011-2012 more than 25% of Americans over 40 took statins - this is a huge cost, given the cost of such drugs in America.
In the meta-analysis of Dr. Sabatin, 49 clinical trials of different years were included, including 25 trials using statins.
Among the alternatives, scientists considered:.
• Healthy nutrition, aimed at reducing LDL.
• The drug Zetia (ezetimibe), which blocks the absorption of cholesterol.
• Sequestants of bile acids, which increase the excretion of cholesterol through the liver.
• Biliopancreatic shunting, in which the intestine is shortened.
• Current preparations from the group of PCSK9 inhibitors. The results of the drug treatment differed significantly: Zetia reduced LDL by an average of 20%, statins - from 30 to 50% depending on the dose, PCSK9 inhibitors - up to 60%.
But the authors were interested in another: exactly how each unit of "removed" from the blood of cholesterol affects the cardiovascular health and mortality of patients.
"We found a linear relationship between a decrease in LDL and a risk of cardiovascular events. The lower the cholesterol, the safer it is, "concluded Dr. Sabatin.
At the same time, he noted that statins remain the best option for controlling cholesterol.
"The largest database has been accumulated for statins, they remain highly effective and relatively safe means to reduce LDL," says the researcher..
However, his colleagues advise not to forget about diet and exercise, which must necessarily be part of the plan to combat cholesterol. Remember: the lower, the better!.
Details of the study can be found in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
medbe. en.