Wider Value Found for Cholesterol Pill
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Six million healthy Americans with ordinary cholesterol levels might benefit from taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, researchers said. Healthy men and women taking lovastatin, sold as Mevacor, reduced their risk of serious heart trouble 37%, according to a five-year study in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. Currently, national guidelines recommend cholesterol-lowering drugs only for people with high cholesterol. “We estimate that 6 million Americans not recommended for drug treatment may benefit” from lovastatin, said the authors, led by Dr. John R. Downs of Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. The study involved 6,604 men and post-menopausal women ages 45 to 73.
