 |
This
Oct. 25, 2011 file photo shows the logo of Swiss pharmaceutical company
Novartis AG on one of their buildings in Basel, Switzerland. (Georgios
Kefalas/Keystone via AP)
|
For the first time, a
drug has helped prevent heart attacks by curbing inflammation, a new and very
different approach than lowering cholesterol.
Associated
Press report continues:
Many
heart attacks occur in people who have normal cholesterol but high
inflammation, which can lead to clogged arteries. A study tested the Novartis drug
canakinumab (can-uh-KIN-yoo-mab) in heart attack survivors at risk of another
one because of high inflammation.
A
middle dose, given as a shot every three months, cut the risk of a repeat heart
attack, a stroke or a heart-related death by 15% over four years.
Results were published Sunday by the New England Journal of Medicine and Lancet, and presented at a heart conference in Barcelona, Spain.
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