NEWS & EVENTS

Carolinas Research Associates is pleased to announce Dr. David Miller will serve as Medical Director for CRA. Dr. Miller brings several years research experience as well as over 30 years experience in Family Medicine. Dr. Miller is located at 4315 Physicians Blvd. Suite 202, Harrisburg, NC. His office is conveniently located in the Charlotte Metropolitan area. To reach Dr. David Miller please call 704-366-3001.

Carolinas Research promotes education about clinical trials in our community. Please contact us at 704.366.3001 or click here if you would like your church or community organization to hear more about clinical research.

Statin study may lead to changes in treatment guidelines for heart disease.
The CBS Evening News (11/10, story 6, 2:55, Couric) reported, "A new study says statins, a class of drugs widely used to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart attack, can do the same for patients with normal, even low cholesterol levels."    
    
NBC Nightly News (11/10, story 5, 2:10, Williams) reported that, according to this study, the drugs may play a "role...in reducing [the] risk of heart disease even if you don't have high cholesterol."      
  
ABC World News (11/10, story 5, 3:55, Gibson) added that "leading doctors say this study has rewritten the book on statins."       

USA Today (11/11, Sternberg) notes that the study, called JUPITER, "supplied powerful evidence that statins save lives by driving down blood cholesterol and cooling inflamed arteries, as measured by high blood levels of C-reactive protein (CRP)." Investigators, however, "debated whether the [CRP] tests should be routine, given that many study patients did have other risk factors, including obesity and smoking, although their cholesterol was low."

The Wall Street Journal (11/11, Whalen) adds that "previous studies have shown a link between high CRP levels and heart disease, but few physicians currently test for CRP." Medical "groups such as the American College of Cardiology, which advise physicians on the best treatments, will help determine how widely CRP tests are used. The ACC and other groups will be updating their treatment guidelines for heart disease next year, and," according to AstraZeneca CEO David Brennan, "it is 'reasonable to think' such groups will consider" this new research "as they draft those guidelines." AstraZeneca's Crestor (rosuvastatin calcium) was the statin used in the study.

The Financial Times (11/11, Jack) reports that "AstraZeneca...will seek approval from regulators in the U.S., Europe and other leading markets by the middle of next year for expanded use of its cholesterol-lowering drug Crestor after fresh signs of its benefits." U.S. News & World Report (11/10, Kotz), the Wall Street Journal (11/10, Rubenstein) Health Blog, and MedPage Today (11/10, Peck) also covered the story.        

Editorial: Expanded statin use could put some patients at risk in the long term. In an editorial, the Minneapolis Star Tribune (11/11) writes, "With heart disease the leading cause of death in the United States for men and women -- killing about 450,000 people each year -- it's no wonder that any potential treatment advance is greeted with enthusiasm and headlines." Approximately 50 percent "of heart attacks occur in those who have levels of LDL cholesterol currently considered acceptable." The JUPITER study "suggests that...statin drugs could be used even more aggressively to prevent heart disease in millions more people." The Tribune points out, however, that "it's...not known if all statins would have the same benefit as Crestor," the statin used in the study. Furthermore, "once started, statins are typically taken for life. Unfortunately, physicians don't know what the downsides are from decades of use."