Pravastatin reduces risks significantly

Results of the Long-term Intervention with Pravastatin in Ischemic Disease (LIPID) study were presented at the meeting of the American Heart Association (AHA) late last year in Orlando, FL. Investigators reported significant benefits with pravastatin (Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Pravachol). Patients who took Pravachol 40 mg daily experienced the following:

• reduced the risk of death from any cause by 23%;

• reduced the risk of death from coronary heart disease by 24%;

• reduced the risk of fatal and nonfatal heart attack by 29%;

• reduced the need for bypass surgery by 24%.

The LIPID study included people with average and below average cholesterol levels who had either already suffered a heart attack or had a history of unstable angina. Side effects include a mild transient rash and gastrointestinal upset. Pravastatin is one of a new class of lipid-lowering compounds, the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, which reduce cholesterol biosynthesis.