CardioExchange Archive

July 7th, 2014

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: July 7th

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include the effect of patients’ risks and preferences on health gains with plasma glucose level lowering in type 2 diabetes, a meta-analysis of revascularization vs. medical treatment in patients with stable CAD, and more.

---

June 19th, 2014

Genetic Studies May Help Unravel the Triglyceride Problem

Larry Husten, PHD

The precise role of triglycerides in heart disease has been very difficult to determine. To help untangle the knotty problem two research groups studied large populations and identified rare variations in a gene (APOC3) that encodes for apolipoprotein C3, which is known to increase triglyceride levels. In the first paper, published in the New England Journal […]

---

May 6th, 2014

FDA Approves New Omega-3 Supplement

Larry Husten, PHD

The FDA has approved a new omega-3 supplement for the treatment of adults with severe hypertriglyceridemia, defined as triglyceride levels 500 mg/dL or higher. The drug, which will be marketed under the brand name of Epanova, is manufactured by AstraZeneca, which acquired the drug when it purchased Omthera Pharmaceuticals in 2013. AstraZeneca said that Epanova is the first omega-3 […]

---

October 16th, 2013

FDA Advisory Panel: No Expanded Indication for Vascepa Without Outcomes Trial

Larry Husten, PHD

An FDA advisory panel today failed to recommend an expanded indication for Vascepa, the purified EPA fish-oil product from Amarin. Vascepa is currently indicated only for the relatively small number of people with severe hypertriglyceridemia (>500 mg/dL). The proposed new indication would have greatly expanded the patient population eligible to receive Vascepa to the 20% of […]

---

November 12th, 2012

Nonfasting Lipid Testing Gains Growing Acceptance

Larry Husten, PHD

Although fasting before a lipid test has long been recommended, a new study and accompanying commentaries make the case that nonfasting lipid levels are acceptable and may even be superior to fasting levels for the assessment of cardiovascular risk. Investigators at the University of Calgary analyzed data from laboratory tests obtained from more than 200,000 people […]

---

August 24th, 2012

Is Bad News About Fibrates Getting Buried?

Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

A meta-analysis about lipid-modifying therapies and risk for pancreatitis focuses on a benefit of statins but de-emphasizes potential harm from fibrates.

---

July 27th, 2012

FDA Approves New Prescription Fish Oil Pill

Larry Husten, PHD

The FDA has approved a new prescription formulation of fish oils for treating very high triglyceride levels. The drug will be sold under the brand name Vascepa. According to Amarin, the manufacturer, it will be indicated as an adjunct to diet to reduce triglyceride levels in adult patients with severe hypertriglyceridemia (>500 mg/dL). Vascepa contains ultra-purified ethyl EPA, an […]

---

August 10th, 2011

Rethinking Trilipix — And the Process for Approving Lipid-Modifying Drugs

Sanjay Kaul, MD

Editor’s Note: In an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine, three members of the FDA’s Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee (Allison Goldfine, Sanjay Kaul, and William Hiatt) offer their perspective on the May 19 committee meeting to review the controversial ACCORD-Lipid Study. Here, one of those authors, Sanjay Kaul, provides his […]

---

May 1st, 2011

Don’t Miss the New AHA Recommendations on Triglycerides

Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

I’ve been surprised at the lack of fanfare surrounding the American Heart Association’s recently published scientific statement on triglycerides and cardiovascular disease (CVD). The attention it did receive focused on the lower fasting triglyceride level that is now considered optimal: <100 mg/dL. In my opinion, the real headline was the committee’s important statements in support of […]

---

April 18th, 2011

100 Is the New 150: AHA Lowers Optimal Triglyceride Level

Larry Husten, PHD

In a newly released scientific statement on triglycerides, the AHA recommends that 100 mg/dL replace 150 mg/dL as the upper limit for the “optimal level” for triglycerides. But, the statement acknowledges, the cut point should not be used as a therapeutic target for drug therapy, “because there is insufficient evidence that lowering triglyceride levels” can […]

---