FDA Warns of Greater Muscle Risk From Zocor

[ofonorow]

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=10148230
FDA Warns of Greater Muscle Risk From Zocor

The Food and Drug Administration said Friday the highest available dose of Zocor, a component in cholesterol drugs, can cause muscle damage as well as severe and potentially lethal kidney damage.

The agency said statin drugs like Zocor are known to cause muscle damage in some patients, but the risk is more severe when patients are taking 80 milligram doses of Zocor, which is the highest FDA-approved dose.

The side effects include rhabdomyolysis, a form of muscle damage that can lead to kidney damage or failure, and death.

Zocor is the brand name for the drug used by Merck & Co. of Whitehouse Station, N.J. Its chemical name is simvastatin.

[Johnwen]

Didn't the Doctor Say It will PREVENT Heart attack and stroke.

Yeah--insane, but true.

Last year I told you about the ENHANCE STUDY. (You've got to love the adorable happy-face names they give these trials.) In that study, subjects with high cholesterol took either Zocor alone or Vytorin. LDL dropped in both groups, and the average thickness of artery walls increased.

And here's the amazing part: It wasn't a surprise.

An FDA report about ENHANCE states that, based on a previous study, researchers anticipated that Zocor would increase artery wall thickness.
Incredible, but that's how it goes in the big time world of major drug trials. Narrowed arteries? No problemo.

It's hard to say exactly when IMPROVE-IT will be finished, because this study has an unusual design:It will be done when the number of heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiovascular events reaches 5,250. So far, the halfway point has been reached. That means that for 2,625 subjects, the study is already over. And you can't help but wonder: How many of them had narrower arteries at the end than they did when the study began?

But look on the bright side: Most likely, their LDL was impressively low!

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson