Powerful cholesterol drug cuts heart attack risk by 31%
Why it matters: This drug could prevent heart attacks and strokes in high-risk diabetic patients before any artery damage occurs.
- Mass General Brigham researchers reported that evolocumab, a PCSK9 inhibitor, significantly reduced the risk of a first major cardiovascular event in high-risk diabetic patients without diagnosed atherosclerosis.
- Evolocumab cut LDL-C (bad cholesterol) levels by about 51% in the study group, leading to a substantial reduction in heart attack risk.
- Nicholas A. Marston, MD, MPH, a cardiologist with the Mass General Brigham Heart and Vascular Institute, emphasized that these results should change how medical professionals approach the prevention of heart attacks and strokes in patients without known significant atherosclerosis.
A powerful cholesterol-lowering drug, evolocumab, previously reserved for patients with existing cardiovascular disease, has shown significant promise in preventing first-time heart attacks and strokes in high-risk diabetic patients, even before any artery-clogging plaque is detected. This finding, presented by Mass General Brigham researchers, suggests a paradigm shift in early heart disease prevention strategies.
