New, Powerful Class of Cholesterol Drugs?
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iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — For many of the approximately 71 million Americans with high LDL “bad” cholesterol levels, taking a statin is part of their daily routine.
Now, a new class of injectable drugs called PCSK9 inhibitors may change the way patients with high cholesterol are treated.
In two new studies published Sunday in the New England Journal of Medicine involving over 2,000 and 4,000 patients at multiple hospitals, the medications were found to reduce bad cholesterol on average by 60 percent.
In the first study, researchers compared one of these drugs against a placebo, while in the second study a separate group of researchers tested this drug as an add-on to statins.
In both cases, the patients taking the PCSK9 inhibitors saw dramatic reductions in their “bad” LDL cholesterol levels, according to researchers.
Moreover, patients taking this new class of drug were also found to have lower rates of heart attacks and strokes.
Both of the medications are injected under the skin either biweekly or monthly, as opposed to statins, which are taken in pill form daily.
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