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

  • If antihypertensive medication were widely used, it would result in an estimated increase in life expectancy (averaged over the entire population) of 0.5 years in men and 0.4 years in…  
  • Savings associated with t-PA treatment for ischemic stroke patients
    A $600 net savings is associated with each ischemic stroke patient treated with t-PA. In 2005, only 2% of all ischemic stroke patients received t-PA. If that percentage was increased…  
  • TAVR Success in sSAS Patients
    A study of severe symptomatic aortic stenosis (sSAS) patients who received transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) found 30-day mortality of 2.2% for those who were high risk of surgical mortality/inoperable,…  
  • “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…  
  • Every $1 spent on technological innovations in heart attack care has produced an estimated $7 gain.