Scroll Up
Scroll Down
Play Play Play Play
Unregistered User
Click here if this is not your Personal Edition
 
Contact Us | Free E-Mail Updates | Journals | Register a colleague
 
 
Cholesterol/Lipid Disorders
 
   
 
SEARCH   
Doctor's Guide Free CME
Medline
Congress Resource Centre
 

 EXPLORE :
   Most Read News
 All News  All News
 All Webcasts / CME  All Webcasts / CME
 All Cases  All Cases
 Congress Resource Centre  Congress Resource Centre
 All Medical Resources  All Medical Resources
 Medical  My Personal Edition



Warning | Privacy

 

 
 Recent news - Cholesterol/Lipid Disorders
    TopAbstracts in Cholesterol/Lipid Disorders 11/26/2009 - (DGNews)
    Statins Can Reduce Risk of Major Cardiovascular Events in Healthy Women: Presented at AHA - (DGDispatch)
    Trends in High Levels of Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol in the United States, 1999-2006 - (JAMA)
    Atorvastatin Improves Renal Function in Patients With Heart Disease, Metabolic Syndrome: Presented at AHA - (DGDispatch)
    Extended-Release Niacin or Ezetimibe and Carotid Intima-Media Thickness - (N Engl J Med)

    News archive

     Recent webcasts/CME - Cholesterol/Lipid Disorders
      Medication Use for Diabetes, Hypertension, and Hypercholesterolemia from 1988-1994 to 2001-2006
      Diabetes and the Heart: Cardiac Care for the Patient with Diabetes: Clinical Horizons
      High-Density Lipoprotein and the Epidemiology of Coronary Heart Disease
      Diabetes Management - Pearls of Lipid Control
      Initiating and Monitoring Statin Therapy

      Webcasts/CME archive

       Recent cases - Cholesterol/Lipid Disorders
        Lipemic Serum In Hyperlipidemic Pancreatitis
        There May be a Link Between Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy and Familial Combined Hyperlipidaemia: A Case Report
        Marked Aortic Valve Stenosis Progression After Receiving Long-Term Aggressive Cholesterol-Lowering Therapy Using Low-Density Lipoprotein Apheresis in a Patient With Familial Hypercholesterolemia
        Acute Myocardial Infarction in an 18 Year Old South Indian Girl with Familial Hypercholesterolemia: A Case Report
        Eruptive Xanthomas and Acute Pancreatitis in a Patient with Hypertriglyceridemia

        Cases archive
          




        my personal edition > cholesterol/lipid disorders > news
        divider

          E-Mail this DGReview to a colleague

        DGReview


        Ezetimibe may complement statins and other lipid-lowering drugs

        A DGReview of :"Lipid-lowering: Can ezetimibe help close the treatment gap?"
        Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine

        09/28/2003
        By Emma Hitt, PhD


        Using the lipid-lowering drug ezetimibe (Zetia) in combination with statin drugs may help decrease the occurrence of adverse events seen with statin therapy, according to the conclusion of a review article.

        Ezetimibe inhibits cholesterol absorption and has a favourable profile of adverse events. Unlike statins, the drug does not pose a risk of hepatotoxicity or myositis. And ezetimibe lowers low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels by about 18% when used as monotherapy and by an additional 25% when added to statin therapy.

        According to Ryan C. Neal, MD, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States, and colleagues, most patients who should be on lipid-lowering therapy are not receiving it, and most patients who are receiving it are not reaching appropriate LDL goals, resulting in a treatment gap.

        In their article, the authors cite data suggesting that less than 40% of patients with coronary heart disease may be on lipid-lowering therapy and only 25% may achieve a target level of below 100 mg/dL. Another study has found that 18% of CHD patients undergoing treatment achieve LDL levels below 100 mg/dL.

        "This [low usage rate] is in part because physicians and patients fear side effects of statins and other lipid-lowering agents," Dr. Neil and colleagues write.

        In cases where patients cannot tolerate maximum doses of statins or a combination of a statin plus a fibrate or niacin, clinicians may choose moderate-dose statin monotherapy or low-dose statin therapy plus an agent such as ezetimibe, which does not appear to increase the incidence of adverse events compared to placebo.

        "In theory, the mechanism of action of ezetimibe should complement that of fibrates, niacin, and bile acid resins," they suggest. The most practical use of ezetimibe will be in combination with ongoing statin therapy in patients who have not reached their LDL goals, they add.
        Cleve Clin J of Med 2003;70:9:777-783. "Lipid-lowering: Can ezetimibe help close the treatment gap?"

        E-Mail this DGReview to a colleague   To print, use this version






        All contents Copyright (c) 1995-2009 Doctor's Guide Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.



        The NTK initiative. Physicians helping physicians identify Need-To-Know science
           Feedback
        Please rate this article: Strongly DISAGREE...Strongly AGREE NTK logo
        Question 1 - Physicians need to become aware of this information as soon as possible. Question 2 - This information is likely to have an impact on the way physicians practice medicine.
        1
        2
        3
        4
        5
        6
        7
        Send