Paper
News in Brief
Published Nov 1, 2003 ·
Expert Review of Cardiovascular Therapy
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Abstract
The results of two separate studies, reported at the annual meeting of the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society (PCCS) in Dublin, have confirmed that new high performance statin Crestor® (Rosuvastatin, AstraZeneca, UK) is more effective than older statins at lowering cholesterol. The Performance for Life study, conducted by Brady and colleagues, Glasgow Royal infirmary, was based on the medical records of over 80,000 coronary heart disease (CHD) patients and on questionnaires completed by 220 general practioners. The questionnaires revealed that GPs believed that 80% of their patients achieved the cholesterol targets set out in the National Service Framework (NSF) for CHD. However, study of the medical records revealed that only 48% of the CHD patients studied achieved these targets. The remaining 52% were still at risk of further cardiovascular events. For diabetic patients the therapy was even less effective, with less that 10% reaching the target cholesterol reduction, despite changes in statin dose or switching to an alternate statin. The study was carried out before this new statin, Crestor, became available. A separate study, Direct Statin COmparison of LDL-C Values: an Evaluation of Rosuvastatin therapY (DISCOVERY), found that more patients in the study achieved the recommended cholesterol targets set out in the NSF when treated with rosuvastatin compared with older statins. 75.1% of patients treated with 10-mg rosuvastatin had their cholesterol lowered to less than 5 mmol/l and by 25% compared with the 59% who achieved this on 10-mg atorvastatin and the 50.7% who achieved this on 20g simvastatin. 'Guidelines are getting tougher and if NSF targets follow the new European cholesterol targets, which recommend that total cholesterol levels should be below 4.5mmol/l and LDL cholesterol below 2.5mmol/l, UK GPs will come under even greater pressure. The option to prescribe high performance statins will be essential if we are to tackle CHD efficiently and effectively in Britain', stated Fuat, a DISCOVERY investigator. 'To improve this country's poor performance on CHD management and put us on a par with our European and American counterparts, we need to better manage our patients on older statins, or quickly start taking advantage of new treatments, such as rosuvastatin’, concluded Brady.
The new high-performance statin Crestor is more effective than older statins at lowering cholesterol, improving cardiovascular disease management in the UK.
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