Half of people taking a cholesterol-lowering statin not helped by the drug
Nearly half the people taking a cholesterol-lowering statin drug get no benefit from it. Instead, they should be eating a good diet and maintaining a healthy weight.
Statins are supposed to lower LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol, the ‘bad’ fat that blocks the arteries that causes heart attack and stroke.
But they don’t work in 40 per cent of the people who take them because they have high levels of a protein called resistin, say researchers from Mcmaster University in Canada. Resistin, which is secreted by fat tissue, causes the formation of LDL cholesterol, and counters any positive effects a statin might have.
The discovery might usher in a new family of resistin-lowering drugs, but, in the meantime, people need to help themselves more by eating properly and keeping their weight under control.
(Source: Canadian Cardiovascular Congress, October 28, 2012).