| Blackthorn |
10-20-2004 04:14 AM |
New drug may reverse heart disease
I thought about posting this under Health & Fitness but with the potential impact of this new chemical concoction I thought it would be better received here. Read on for news about a new drug that could quickly reverse the effect of blocked coronary arteries!!! Heart disease is still the number on killer in the U.S. so before you super size it -- think twice about what you order from McDUNGalds. If you can't seem to resist the temptations of a sedentary lifestyle and high fat, artery clogging food then don't despair -- there may still be hope for your longevity.
Better living through Chemistry -- and here I thought Scotch was as good as it gets!
Linky
Quote:
By The Washington Post and The Associated Press
A synthetic form of "good cholesterol" has been shown to quickly shrink blockages clogging coronary arteries, offering for the first time the possibility of a drug that could rapidly reverse heart disease, researchers reported yesterday. The small, preliminary study showed that in just six weeks, the substance significantly reduced the amount of plaque narrowing the arteries of heart-attack and chest-pain patients, researchers reported.
"The concept is sort of liquid Drano for the coronary arteries," said Dr. Steven Nissen, a Cleveland Clinic cardiologist who coordinated the nationwide study.
Because the approach attacks the underlying source of many heart attacks, the results could mark a milestone in the search for new ways to treat the nation's No. 1 killer, researchers said.
"For the first time, we've shown that you can reverse coronary disease with drug therapy in a matter of weeks," Nissen said. "We really have, for the first time, the opportunity to attack this disease at its fundamental basis."
Results of the study were published in today's Journal of the American Medical Association.
Nissen and other researchers cautioned that the study involved only 47 patients and said further studies are needed to confirm the findings, fully evaluate the drug's safety and determine whether the treatment actually cuts the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
"It's extremely preliminary," said Susan Bennett, clinical director of the George Washington University Hospital Women's Heart Program. "But it is very intriguing."
Regardless of whether this particular drug eventually offers a practical, effective treatment, other experts said the study has opened up an entirely new way to approach treating atherosclerosis, commonly known as hardening of the arteries.
"This is the first true test of the concept that specifically targeting HDL, the good cholesterol, can impact plaque and atherosclerosis in humans," said Daniel Rader, director of preventive cardiology at the University of Pennsylvania, who wrote an editorial accompanying the new study.
Scientists have long known that there are two forms of cholesterol. One is low-density lipoprotein (LDL), which is the "bad cholesterol" because it accumulates inside artery walls, causing the vessels to narrow and setting the stage for heart attacks and strokes. The other is high-density lipoprotein (HDL), called "good cholesterol" because it protects against heart disease, primarily by lowering LDL levels.
About 30 years ago, researchers discovered about 40 people living in the Italian town of Limone Sul Garda who had a surprisingly low rate of heart disease despite their extremely low HDL levels. Lab tests revealed a likely explanation: All had a gene variation in a key protein component of HDL. The variation contributed to larger-than-normal HDL particles, which is believed to make HDL cholesterol especially efficient at removing plaque.
Esperion Therapeutics of Ann Arbor, Mich., developed a genetically engineered form of this version of HDL, dubbed ApoA-I Milano, and showed that it reduced plaque inside the arteries of laboratory animals. The company then asked Nissen to test it in people.
In the study, Nissen and colleagues gave weekly infusions of either the synthetic HDL or a placebo to 47 heart-disease patients for five weeks. The patients who received the synthetic HDL experienced about a 4 percent reduction in the plaque lining their arteries, a reduction 10 times greater than anything scientists had tried previously, the researchers found.
"We've run across something that can literally clear out the plaque in just a few weeks," Nissen said. "That's unprecedented."
Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company
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