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Senior Citizen Health & Medicine
Zetia in Vytorin Does Not Stop Plaque Buildup;
Better Off with Just Simivastatin
Major setback for combination drug that does lower
LDL but
 Jan. 15, 2008 The bottom line for
cholesterol-fighting senior citizens is that Zetia does not work in
reducing your heart disease risk. It
does not reduce your risk of clogged arteries as a part of Vytorin,
either. You are better off with a
generic statin. That is the message derived from a new release yesterday
by the manufacturers explaining the results of resent testing.
The good news was that Vytorin, which is a
combination of Zetia and Zocor, lowered low-density lipoprotein (LDL)
cholesterol -- that's the bad kind -- more than Zocor alone.
"That's not
a big surprise, since previous clinical trials have shown that Zetia
works well in combination and by itself. The previous trials are the
reason Zetia and Vytorin have both become multibillion-dollar drugs,
writes Brian Orelli on
The Motley Fool.
The bad news was that the lowered cholesterol
didn't translate into less plaque in the arteries. Vytorin and Zocor
caused a change in thickness of the arteries that was statistically the
same after two years of use.
In clinical trials, the same is often good enough,
but the problem for the cholesterol-fighting duo is that Zocor is
available as a much cheaper generic.
Vytorin contains simvastatin (the generic for Zocor)
and ezetimibe (Zetia).
The announcement of the clinical trial results
raised questions among cardiologists both about the medicines
effectiveness and about the behavior of the pharmaceutical companies
that conducted the study, according to an extensive report in the
New York Times.
Merck
and
Schering-Plough, which make the drug, Zetia, and a pill that
contains it, Vytorin, said Monday morning that Zetia had failed to
benefit patients in a two-year trial that ended in April 2006, reported
in Alex Berenson in the NY Times.
Below are links to the complete package of
information released by Merck:
Read more:
Brian Orelli, The Motley Fool
Alex Berenson in the NY Times
What you should know about Vytorin and Zetia USA Today
What's Next For Vytorin? Forbes
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