Tuesday, March 27, 2007

SOD supplement may protect against atherosclerosis

SOD supplement may protect against atherosclerosis

By staff reporter, 3/14/2007

A superoxide dismutase (SOD) supplement, GliSODin, in combination with diet and lifestyle changes can significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, French researchers have reported.

SOD has a different mode of action to vitamins. First discovered in 1968, it is the first antioxidant mobilized by the cell for defence. It is thought to be more powerful than antioxidant vitamins as it activates the body's productions of its own antioxidants, including catalase and glutathione peroxidase.

Read the full news report from here @ Nutra Ingredients USA

Isis cholesterol drug lowers LDL levels

Isis cholesterol drug lowers LDL levels

26th March 2007, By Victoria Harrison

Isis Pharmaceuticals has said new results from its monotherapy phase II clinical trial of cholesterol drug showed improvements in LDL cholesterol.

Patients with high cholesterol were treated for ten weeks with 400 mg/week of the drug ISIS 301012. In this study, increasing the dose of ISIS 301012 to 400 mg/week was well tolerated and further reduced atherogenic lipids, with median improvements in LDL-cholesterol of 70%.

Read the full report here @ Pharmaceutical Business Review Online

Hemochromatosis gene linked to stroke risk

Hemochromatosis gene linked to stroke risk

Mar 26, 2007

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Patients with a specific gene variation for hereditary hemochromatosis, an autosomal recessive disease associated with increased iron accumulation, have more than double the risk of stroke, new research suggests.

Hemochromatosis affects how the body metabolizes iron, which results an iron build-up in the liver. Without treatment, the condition causes liver enlargement that can lead to cirrhosis or liver cancer. The disease can also cause diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, and other serious conditions.

Read the full report here @ Reuters, UK

Experimental Heart Drug Fails to Slow Atherosclerosis

Cholesterol News: Experimental Heart Drug Fails to Slow Atherosclerosis

By Marcia Trahan, March 26, 2007

Three new studies found that torcetrapib, an experimental heart drug, did not inhibit atherosclerosis, or plaque build-up in coronary arteries.

Two studies' results were presented March 26 at the American College of Cardiology's annual meeting in New Orleans. A third study will appear in the March 29 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Something very strange is going on with this drug [torcetrapib], where none of these fantastic changes translate into benefit for the arterial walls," said Dr. John J.P. Kastelein of the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam, who led the research team for two of the three studies.

Read the full news story from here @ Associated Content

Pfizer says new studies show higher dose of Lipitor slows atherosclerosis

Pfizer says new studies show higher dose of Lipitor slows atherosclerosis

26 Mar 2007

LONDON (AFX) - Pfizer Inc said results from two new imaging trials show a higher dose of its cholesterol-fighting drug Lipitor stopped the progression of atherosclerosis in patients with coronary heart disease or familial hypercholesterolemia (FH).

The results are part of three, two-year clinical trials, involving over 2,800 patients, designed to investigate the efficacy of torcetrapib in combination with Lipitor compared to Lipitor alone.

Read the full report from here @ Forbes

ACC: Atherosclerosis Impervious to HDL Infusions

ACC: Atherosclerosis Impervious to HDL Infusions

By Crystal Phend, Staff Writer, MedPage Today

March 26, 2007

NEW ORLEANS, March 26 -- Artificially boosting high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels does not reverse atherosclerosis, though it may have some vascular benefit, said researchers here.

In the ERASE trial of 183 patients with recent acute coronary syndromes, weekly infusions of CSL-111, an investigational agent made with reconstituted HDL from human plasma, showed no significant advantage over placebo in reducing plaque volumes...

However, there were significant improvements in atheroma volume versus baseline with the agent as well as in plaque characteristics and coronary scores versus placebo "strongly suggestive of rapid beneficial effects" ...

Read the full news report here @ The Med Page

Crestor Effective at Halting Early Atherosclerosis

Crestor Effective at Halting Early Atherosclerosis

This press release issued by Eurekalert says that an international study using ultrasound technology has found that the most potent cholesterol-lowering drug is also effective at halting early changes in the blood vessels that can lead to atherosclerosis.

Results from the study were reported at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology in New Orleans and were published on-line by the Journal of the American Medical Association. The research involved people with moderately elevated cholesterol levels who didn't qualify for treatment under national guidelines.

Read the full news report from the Hindu