New indicator for statins
Monday November 10th, 2008
A major international heart disease trial has been halted after successfully identifying a powerful new test for risk.
Doctors are being urged to use the new test on patients - as treatment with statins can halve the risk of developing disease.
The findings have led to the halting of the Jupiter study, which involved nearly 18,000 patients from 27 countries.
Doctors were studying the link between C-reactive protein and heart disease - and found it was overwhelmingly proved.
They also found that statin drugs cut the risk of patients with high levels of protein developing disease by 44 per cent.
Dr Jacques Genest, of McGill University, Montreal, Canada, said: "These results definitely surpassed our predictions.
"We had to stop the study before its scheduled completion, as the benefit of the treatment for the selected patients was so great that we needed to present our findings to the medical community as soon as possible."
He said more research is needed on specific standards but added: "We hope that this study will prompt a review of current clinical practices, especially in terms of screening and prevention in adults."
New England Journal of Medicine November 9, 2008 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa0807646
Tags: Heart Health | North America | World Health
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