Aim-High study aims to reduce bad cholesterols, increase the good
5:31 p.m. Monday, January 29, 2007
63-year-old Larry McDonald has had two major heart attacks. Now he's enrolled in the Aim-High study hoping to prevent another one.
"With this study, we're supposed to lower the bad cholesterol and raise the good and hopefully that's gonna happen," McDonald said.
Participants in the nationwide study will receive Simvastatin to lower LDL or bad cholesterol.
Fast Facts
- About 99.9 million adults in the U.S. borderline high total cholesterol levels; 34.5 million adults have high total cholesterol levels.
- Researchers estimate cholesterol-lowering statins may reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke by up to 40 percent. However, statins are only effective in reducing LDL cholesterol levels.
- Each one percent increase in HDL is associated with a two to three percent decrease in risk for heart disease.
- In the Aim-High study, investigators are trying to determine if adding niacin to a cholesterol-lowering treatment can help patients increase their HDL levels.
For information about the Aim-High trial, log onto www.clinicaltrials.gov, then type the trial number, NCT00120289, in the search box. General information on cholesterol and its control is available at theAmerican Heart Association or the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
"Somewhere down to below 100, perhaps below 80," cardiologist Dr. Michael Miller. "And then half of them will, in addition to a statin, will be placed on a medication to raise the good cholesterol or HDL."
That medication is Niaspan, a prescription-strength, long-lasting niacin, a B-3 vitamin proven to raise good cholesterol.
"With low doses it is, it's viewed as a vitamin, but at higher doses, such as about 50 milligrams a day, we would view it as more of a medicinal agent," Miller said.
The study is the first to compare the effects of a niacin-statin combination to a statin alone.
"The hypothesis is that raising the levels of the good cholesterol, lowering the blood fats, above and beyond just lowering bad cholesterol will add additional benefit," Miller said.
Dr. Miller says positive findings from the study could change the way doctors care for people with heart disease.
"In the big picture, we would hope that attending to all the good and bad cholesterols would make a difference," Miller said.
It is a difference that could prevent heart attacks and save more lives.
Researchers are still enrolling participants for the study. For more information, log onto Aim-High. The study is funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and Kos Pharmaceuticals, the maker of Niaspan.
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