A drug for the healthy?

Can a drug make healthy people healthier? Possibly so, according to a study of Merck’s cholesterol-lowering drug Mevacor (lovastatin) by a combined trio of research sites.

The study aimed to determine whether adults with normal cholesterol levels or those who normally would not be put on a drug regimen could reduce their chances of heart attack or unstable angina by taking the drug.

The answer from preliminary results is yes, by a 36% reduction rate, say researchers at Cornell University, the University of North Texas, and Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland (TX) Air Force Base.

The study tracked 6,605 patients in a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trial that included 997 women ages 45 to 73 and 1,416 patients overall ages 65 and older.

Doses started at 20 mg daily to a maximum of 40 mg a day, targeting LDL cholesterol levels of 110 mg/dL or less. Results included total cholesterol reduction of 18.4%, LDL reduction of 25%, and HDL increase of 6%. (Triglycerides were down 15%.)

Based on the results, these "healthy" people, in addition to reducing overall heart attack and angina as "first acute coronary events" by 36%, also reduced the risk of "first coronary events" by 54% in women and 34% in men. Other results included reductions of 43% in patients deemed hypertensive, 43% in diabetics, and 29% in the overall senior citizen category. Bypass and angioplasty decreased 33% and hospital admissions caused by unstable angina dropped 34% for those taking the drug.

For more information on Mevacor, contact Cornell’s Myrna Manners at (212) 821-0560, North Texas’ Becky Poer at (817) 735-2553, or Wilford Hall’s Dewey Mitchell at (210) 292-7688.