Keep taking statins after heart attack: study

From Reuters:
People who are tempted to quit taking their statin medication because it failed to prevent a heart attack should think twice, Canadian researchers said on Wednesday.

They said heart attack survivors who stopped taking the cholesterol-lowering drugs were more likely to die during the following year than those who had never been on the drugs.

The findings, published in the European Heart Journal, underscore the effectiveness of the drugs, which not only reduce levels of low-density lipoprotein or LDL, the so-called bad cholesterol, but may also reduce inflammation.

Dr. Stella Daskalopoulou and colleagues at McGill University studied data on British patients who had survived a heart attack and were still alive three months later.

"Patients who used statins before an AMI (heart attack) and continued to take them after were 16 percent less likely to die over the next year than those who never used them," Daskalopoulou said in a statement. ...more

Some people taking cholesterol-fighting statins splitting pills, saving money

From the Canadian Press:
A small but growing percentage of British Columbians who take statins to lower their cholesterol have twigged to the fact that they can save on their medication bills by pill splitting, a new study suggests.

While the researchers only looked at records for statin prescriptions filled in British Columbia, they suggest substantial savings could be made by individuals who pay for their own drugs, by private or government-run drug plans or a combination of the two if the technique were more widely used.

"There are a lot of patients out there who are taking statins who ... could save a lot of money by splitting a larger tablet, or perhaps even moving to a lower cost statin and splitting a larger tablet of that statin and save even more money," said Colin Dormuth, an analyst in the University of British Columbia's Therapeutics Initiative and lead author of the study.

"There's a lot more potential for splitting to occur." ...more

Some kids should be on cholesterol drugs: study

From CTV News:
Children eight years of age or older should be treated with cholesterol medication if they are found to have high levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or so-called bad cholesterol, a new report says.

The new recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics is a drastic step toward preventing cardiovascular disease among at-risk children, including those with high cholesterol.

CTV medical consultant Dr. Marla Shapiro said the recommendation to medicate kids with cholesterol drugs should not come as a surprise, given the dramatic rise in obesity among children.

"We're at the point where a large, respected pediatric society, which happens to be the American Pediatric Society, is taking a stand and really saying that with the rising epidemic of obesity, we know that in youth and young children this will translate into premature heart disease and stroke in the years to come," Shapiro told CTV Newsnet. ...more

Take statins, almost all diabetics are urged

From the Montreal Gazette:
Almost all of the more than 2 million Canadians with diabetes should be taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, according to a major new study.

Researchers who pooled data from 14 studies involving more than 90,000 people say cholesterol reducers known as statins lower the risk of heart attack and stroke in people with diabetes by about one-third - even in those whose risk of a major "vascular event" is as low as one per cent per year.

Reporting today in the journal The Lancet, researchers say their study shows "convincingly" most people with diabetes should consider taking statins.

"I know it sounds drastic but this is a group of people we can't be complacent about," says Colin Baigent, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Oxford and a member of the Cholesterol Treatment Trialists' Collaborators. ...more