More Ways to Get Health!
gift newsletter igoogle healthyvoice
Hot Topic: Home Gyms Under $200

Health News:Cholesterol

LATEST NEWS

HEALTH & WELLNESS

WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

Healthy Eating and Recipes
Sign up for a free weekly email with our most up-to-date information.
See All Newsletters

Statins May Cause Muscle Damage in Some Patients

July 7, 2009

MONDAY, July 6 (HealthDay News) — Statins, medications widely used to lower cholesterol, may cause structural damage to the muscles of people experiencing muscle aches and weakness, a new study has found.

The damage may occur even when tests for a protein thought to signal injury are normal, and may persist even after statin use is halted, according to the study in the July 7 issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

The researchers stressed that people not experiencing significant pain had no cause for alarm and should continue taking the medicine. Read More

Permanent Link | Comments (1)

Study Supports Wider Use of Statins

July 1, 2009

TUESDAY, June 30 (HealthDay News) — An analysis of studies supports a growing belief that guidelines for prescribing cholesterol-lowering statin drugs should be expanded to include healthy people without established heart disease, cardiologists say.

The meta-analysis of 10 trials involving more than 70,000 participants found that statin therapy reduced overall mortality by 12 percent, major coronary events by 30 percent and strokes by 19 percent. Read More

Permanent Link | Comments (0)

Statins Might Stave Off Alzheimer’s

June 30, 2009

TUESDAY, June 30 (HealthDay News) — Treatment with a cholesterol-lowering drug might protect against Alzheimer’s disease, new research suggests.

Scientists have long known that nerve cells in people with Alzheimer’s die prematurely because they are strongly overstimulated, a process called excitotoxicity.

Theorizing that the cholesterol drug lovastatin might ward off cell death, researchers at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands, conducted animal experiments in which they administered lovastatin (Altoprev, Mevacor) to overstimulated nerve cells. Lovastatin is a first-generation member of a class of drugs, statins, that has revolutionized the treatment of high cholesterol. Read More

Permanent Link | Comments (0)

More Heart Patients Getting Cholesterol Levels Under Control

June 22, 2009
cholesterol-doctor

(ISTOCKPHOTO)
By Anne Harding

MONDAY, June 22, 2009 (Health.com) — After years of rising cholesterol levels due to fatty diets and pudgy waistlines, there’s finally good news, experts say. More people who are trying to lower their cholesterol are actually succeeding in getting their low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or bad cholesterol, down to healthy levels.

However, there’s still room for improvement, according to research from nine countries, including the United States and Canada. And there’s good reason to stay focused on lowering your cholesterol: Research suggests that decreasing LDL can ward off heart attacks, strokes, and other health problems. Read More

Pages: 1 2 3
Permanent Link | Comments (0)

Statins May Not Protect Against Pneumonia

June 18, 2009

THURSDAY, June 18 (HealthDay News) — Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs don’t lower the risk of pneumonia in the elderly, according to a study that appears to dash hopes for this use of the drugs.

“Prior research based on automated claims data had raised some hope — and maybe some hype — for statins as a way to prevent and treat infections, including pneumonia,” Dr. Sascha Dublin, an assistant investigator at the Group Health Center for Health Studies in Seattle, said in a news release from the organization. “But when we used medical records to get more detailed information about patients, our findings didn’t support that approach.” Read More

Permanent Link | Comments (1)

No Benefit in Testing for Genes Linked to Leg Clots

June 17, 2009

TUESDAY, June 16 (HealthDay News) — There’s no proof that genetic testing can help prevent the potentially dangerous blood clots called deep vein thrombosis, a new U.S. government report shows.

The presence of two gene mutations called Factor V Leiden and prothrombin G20210A can signal continued risk of blood clots, according to background information in the study. Read More

Permanent Link | Comments (0)

Red Yeast Rice May Lower Cholesterol, So Why Isn’t Your Doctor Recommending It?

June 15, 2009
red-yeast-supplement 

(ISTOCKPHOTO)
By Ray Hainer

MONDAY, June 15, 2009 (Health.com) — A statin can be a lifesaver if you’re at risk of heart disease, but some people who take the cholesterol-lowering drugs—up to 20%, by some estimates—have to stop because of muscle pain, the most common side effect. (Nearly 30 million people filled a statin prescription in 2005, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Statins include popular drugs such as Crestor, Lipitor, and Zocor.)

Now a new study suggests that an over-the-counter dietary supplement sold at pharmacies and health-food stores may be a workable alternative for people who have statin-related muscle pain. It seems that when combined with diet and lifestyle changes, red yeast rice supplements can lower LDL, or bad cholesterol, levels by more than 20% without a substantial risk of muscle pain (also known as myalgia), according to a study published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Read More

Pages: 1 2 3 4
Permanent Link | Comments (11)

Another Blood Fat Fuels Heart Attack Risk

June 10, 2009

TUESDAY, June 9 (HealthDay News) — Yet another type of blood fat may be linked to higher cardiac risk, a new study suggests.

A Danish study finds an increased risk of heart attacks in people whose genes give them high blood levels of a cholesterol-related blood fat, lipoprotein(a), but the researchers say more work is needed to justify treatment to reduce those levels. Read More

Permanent Link | Comments (0)

Statins Can Help Prevent Second Stroke

May 26, 2009

MONDAY, May 25 (HealthDay News) — Taking a cholesterol-lowering statin after a stroke reduces the risk of a second stroke, new research shows.

The 10-year study of nearly 800 people who had strokes found a 35 percent lower incidence of second strokes and a 57 percent lower death rate among those who took statins compared to those who didn’t, according to a report in the May 26 issue of Neurology.

Statins include blockbuster medications such as Crestor, Lipitor, Pravachol and Zocor. Read More

Permanent Link | Comments (1)

Fish, Olive Oil, and Nuts: Good for Your Eyes Too

May 11, 2009
food-healthy-eyes

Getty Images
By Anne Harding

MONDAY, May 11, 2009 (Health.com) — Do you want to keep your vision clear as the years go by? Put fish, olive oil, and nuts on the menu, but stay away from trans fats, according to new research from Australia.

Studies from two different teams published Monday in the Archives of Ophthalmology provide more evidence that these foods—which contain healthy fats—can reduce the risk of developing a retina-destroying condition known as age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

The studies aren’t the first to suggest fish and omega-3 fatty acids may help protect vision; in fact, the first findings pointing in this direction are more than a decade old. But experts not involved in the research agree that the new studies are well done and rigorous. Read More

Pages: 1 2
Permanent Link | Comments (2)

Previous Cholesterol Stories

More Stories
Get the Cholesterol Feed
Continuously updated headlines delivered right to your computer

Advertisement
Close
  • Social Web
  • E-mail