Silver Book

Silver Book Fact

“Although high cholesterol was recognized as a key risk factor for cardiovascular disease in the 1970s, there were no good ways to reduce it. The best drug available was a grainy powder called cholestyramine. Patients mixed it with juice, but it tasted like sand–one patient said it was like drinking Miami Beach. Taking it was so unpleasant that it was prescribed for only the most severe cases.”

“Millions of people now control their cholesterol, and reduce their risk of heart disease, by swallowing a small pill just once a day. A new class of medicines, statins, was introduced in 1987 and offers a safe and effective way to lower cholesterol. One NIH official Claude Lenfant, even said that if all patients took statins according to guidelines, heart disease would no longer be the No. 1 killer.”

Categories

  • Innovative Medical Research
  • Human Value

Related Facts

  • Following the current path, pulmonary condition cases will increase by 31.3% between 2003 and 2023. If an alternative path is taken, there will be 9.1% fewer pulmonary condition cases.  
  • Eliminating out-of-pocket drug costs for combination pharmacotherapy for the 423,000 Americans with drug insurance who will experience their first myocardial infarction in 2006 would save 4,736 lives, and would save…  
  • Undertreatment of patients with sSAS
    AS is often undertreated — one study found that 56% of severe symptomatic aortic stenosis (sSAS) patients referred to a cardiothoracic surgeon were not operated on.  
  • Beta-Blocker Treatment After A Heart Attack: Trends, 1996-2006  
  • Performing renal angioplasty to unclog arteries costs $6,000 less than performing a surgical bypass operation. When post-procedure costs are factored in, it costs $14,000 less. The performance of renal angioplasty…