Lipid disorders

For several months, a 52-year-old woman has had burning discomfort in the region of her lower sternum and frequent acid/sour sensations in her throat; the symptoms are usually associated with burping after meals and recumbency.

NEW ORLEANS -- The potential impact of the COURAGE trial -- the headline-making study that matched medicine to stenting in patients with chronic stable angina -- appears to be in the eye of the clinical beholder.

BALTIMORE -- Statins are associated with a reduced risk of sepsis for kidney patients on dialysis, found researchers here.

KOBE, Japan -- Fish-oil supplements added to statin therapy can further reduce the risk for major coronary events even among patients who already eat a diet heavy in fish, Japanese investigators reported.

NEW ORLEANS -- Torcetrapib, an investigational cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CTEP) that spikes HDLs but boosts blood pressure, may have proatherogenic effects, according to results from a pair of ultrasound studies.

NEW ORLEANS -- Subclinical carotid atherosclerosis appeared to slow down when patients took high-dose rosuvastatin (Crestor), researchers reported here.

NEW ORLEANS -- With an investigational super-potent fibrate called LY518674, HDLs didn't rise as planned for patients with atherogenic dyslipidemia, but serum creatinines went up unexpectedly, researchers here reported.

NEW ORLEANS -- A burst of high-dose statins just before angioplasty and stenting for stable acute coronary syndrome appears to reduce cardiac complications, found an Italian trial.

DALLAS -- When diet and exercise fail to lower cholesterol in children with high-risk lipid abnormalities, statins should be first- line drug therapy, declared the American Heart Association.

BOSTON -- Middle-age volunteers whose parents survived to age 85 or older had significantly better Framingham risk scores than those whose parents died younger, suggesting that cardiovascular longevity may reside in the genes.

SEATTLE -- Angioplasty and stenting of small vessels below the knee are successfully staving off amputation among older patients with severe peripheral arterial disease (PAD), researchers said here.

STOCKHOLM -- Glucose levels at the top end of the normal range ratchet up the risk of congestive heart failure for patients already at high risk, revealed an analysis of two international studies.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- When post menopausal women stop hormone replacement therapy, LDL cholesterol levels are likely to spike, leading many physicians to prescribe statins that may be superfluous, according to researchers here.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Men who limited alcohol intake to less than a glass of wine a day lived about four years longer than those who consumed similar amounts of beer or spirits, researchers here reported.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Some newer atypical antipsychotic are better than others at controlling schizophrenia in patients who were previously taking perphenazine, but the newer agents are pretty much the same, found investigators in a new analysis of data from the CATIE study.

NORWICH, England -- The way that toddlers and teens grow may protect them against high cholesterol levels in adulthood, researchers here found.

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The prevention of symptomaticcoronary heart diseaseand other vascular disordersrepresents a significanthealth care priority, especiallyin a population that is growingolder and more obese. However,a recent survey has shownthat many laypersons-and evensome physicians-do not know allthe target lipid levels that are associatedwith optimal reduction ofcardiovascular risk.

In imaging studies in patients older than 55 yearswith suspected coronary artery disease or peripheralvascular disease, more than 80% of renal artery lesionsare associated with generalized atherosclerosis.

LOS ANGELES -- Interrupting antiretroviral therapy for HIV patients increases the risk of cardiovascular disease by more than 50% over four years, a British researcher said here.

STANFORD, Calif. -- For six long months, scores of volunteers with elevated LDL levels wolfed down a daily sandwich spread with a blended raw clove of garlic, eagerly anticipating that when it was all over their lipid would be better. Alas, it did not happen.

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- The selective estrogen receptor modulator toremifene (Acapodene) improved lipid profiles and increased bone mineral density in androgen deprivation therapy for advanced prostate cancer.

BOSTON -- Even healthy women with no history of heart disease or stroke need to keep their cholesterol down to help head off stroke risk, researchers here said.

DALLAS -- All women 65 or older, regardless of health, should be considered for daily low-dose (81 mg) aspirin therapy to protect their hearts, according to new American Heart Association guideline.