News Tagged ‘American Heart Association

New study shows vytorin and zetia less effective than niacin

niacin2 100x100Vytorin has struck out again, this time in a clinical trial that compared the drug’s safety and efficacy to a prescription form of the B vitamin niacin. The results of the trial, which the New England Journal of Medicine featured in an article and two editorials, were presented Sunday at an American Heart Association meeting and showed that in a direct comparison, niacin worked significantly better than and in reducing arterial blockages. According to a report in NPR, “This study is the third to question whether ezetimibe drugs do what they’re supposed to.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Doctors say stay with statins

As news of Vytorin’s lackluster performance in clinical tests circulates throughout the medical community, many prominent physicians are advocating a return to the use of statins to treat high . Statins, such as Crestor, Zocor, and Lipitor, lower the liver’s production of LDL (bad) . Research shows that statins also reduce cardiac events by 60 percent and strokes by 17 percent.

Read the rest of this entry »