Pharmaceutical company Pfizer loses patent rights to its popular cholesterol lowering medication Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium) this week. The news means patients will be able to begin purchasing a less-expensive generic version by Thursday.
Eli Lily's experimental drug evacetrapib has been shown to raise good cholesterol levels while also decreasing bad cholesterol. It also successfully lowered triglyceride levels.
Doctors generally monitor how well cholesterol lowering drugs are working through simple blood tests. A high tech method that uses MRI scanning may let them peek inside the arteries to evaluate drug effectiveness.
Ever since the lovable Dorothy Hamill skated into a commercial promoting atorvastatin (Lipitor) in the early 2000s, the drug has been known for its remarkable abilities to lower cholesterol.
New treatments can enable children born with HIV to live well into their adult years, but the antiretroviral therapy (ART) can cause high cholesterol. Researchers are urging early cholesterol monitoring for these kids.
Drug maker Pfizer is contemplating an over-the-counter version of its cholesterol drug Lipitor, The Wall Street Journal has reported, citing sources familiar with the effort.
Strokes are tough to predict, much less prevent. Cholesterol lowering drugs known as statins may be effective in preventing a second stroke among younger people.
Drugs do not always work like they are supposed to. In some cases - such as that of the cholesterol drug torcetrapib - they may help fight a disease different than the one they were made to treat.
Diabetes patients are at risk for all sorts of heart problems, including stroke. If a diabetic has had a stroke in the past, the chance of another stroke is even higher.
