Re; Drug may reverse heart disease -what's become of apoA1 Milano?

[Guest guest]

I saw the same report on CBS News last night. The news anchor announced that this was the "first time a drug" had been shown to reverse heart disease. Nissen of the Cleveland Clinic more precisely said it was the first time a STATIN drug had been shown to reverse heart disease. Crestor, of course, remains on Public Citizen's DO NOT TAKE list as a drug that is simply too risky to use. The researchers used a dose four time higher than normal, although they reported no adverse side effects. The research was paid for by the drug company, Astra Zenica. One thing that is striking is that about three years ago Dr. Nissen was widely quoted about his research with Milano HDL - the HDL found in a small Italian population who had very high total cholesterol levels, but nevertheless had almost no heart attacks (even though they regularly consumed Milano cookies??). The research was going to pursue a recombinant form of this miracle

HDL ("apo A1 Milano"). I think in the preliminary small studies the researchers were astounded by how fast the existing plaques regressed when treated with apoA1 Milano - I believe the rates of regression for the Milano HDL far exceeded that shown in the Crestor study and the regressions happened much more rapidly - I think over weeks and not months/years. SO, what's become of miraculous Milano HDL? Too bad nobody at CBS News seemed aware of this, or questioned Dr. Nissen about it. The last time I checked this out (maybe six months ago) the pharmaceutical company that had been developing apoA1 Milano, Espirion, had reportedly been bought out by Pfizer, which was in the process of developing three DRUGS of its own to increase HDL. The info at that time suggested maybe Pfizer didn't want anything like a very effective form of injectable HDL to be developed to compete with its own HDL-increasing drugs, but I

don't know if that's true or just inaccurate conspiracy paranoia. Of course, niacin effectively increases HDL and is quite cheap in its over the counter form. My HDL using 750 -1000 mg of OTC niacin daily (no statins)is up in the 60's consistently now, and my LDL particle size has shifted from A-B to the more favorable A type (large buoyant LDL particles instead of small dense particles - ask your doctor for a VAP test - insist on it). I haven't had an IVUS catheterization so I don't know if any of my plaques are regressing. I doubt any pharma company will pay for a study to see if cheap niacin reduces plaque. Of course, the small plaques, not the large ones, are actually more unstable and prone to rupture. This is something Dr. Nissen explained himself in an article (still online?) called "The Current and Future Outlook for Regression of Atherosclerosis: Next Steps Toward the Horizon". He

said that low-grade (small) stenoses (plaques) cause most heart attacks, and that only about one-seventh of acute MIs occur at the site of hemodynamically significant (large enough to block blood flow) stenoses. Ironically, it's those relatively benign large plaques that everybody seems to worry about the most. Eliminating all plaque would undoubtedly prevent plaque rupture, but given what Dr. Nissen said, I wonder if in the process of reducing plaque there isn't the posssibility of also destabilizing it. As I understand it, plaque in the arteries is sort of like a pus filled capsule - hard on the outside but soft on the inside. I still take my baby aspirin, fish oil and vitamin C and E. Tom in Missouri / Original Message: 9 Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 20:34:01 -0500 Subject: BBC NEWS | Health | Drugs may 'reverse heart disease'Drugs may 'reverse heart disease'Intensive therapy with statin drugs may not just stall deterioration of the arteries but actually reverse it, research suggests.The build-up of fatty deposits inside the arteries - atherosclerosis - can trigger cardiovascular disease.An international study of 349 patients over two years found high doses of a powerful new statin, rosuvastatin, could break down the deposits. Details were presented to an American College of Cardiology meeting.The results sound promising and are likely to translate into a better outcome for heart

patientsProfessor WeissbergDr Jarvis, a London GP and member of the Royal College of General Practitioners, described the results as "dramatically exciting".She said: "We have a drug that can not only halt the progression of the disease but, in the vast majority of patients, it actually showed the disease regress."Professor Weissberg, medical director of the British Heart Foundation, said the study was "important".But he said it was yet to be demonstrated that breaking down the fatty deposits would actually mean fewer heart attacks.Bad cholesterolThe study focused on patients with cardiovascular disease at centres in the US, Canada, Europe and Australia.They were given intensive treatment with rosuvastatin which, along with other statins, was known to cut cholesterol levels.Tests found that the drug cut levels of potentially

damaging LDL- cholesterol by about 50% and boosted levels of the beneficial HDL form by around 15%.As harmful cholesterol was reduced, build-ups of fatty deposits in the patients' arteries also showed a slight regression.The research found almost four out of five patients (78%) demonstrated some reduction in the level of atherosclerosis.The reductions were found to be greatest in the arteries with the most severe disease.Professor Weissberg said: "Previously it was thought that statins saved lives by stabilising plaques - the build-up of fatty deposits in the arteries - thereby preventing them from rupturing to cause a heart attack or stroke."This study encouragingly seems to demonstrate a small but definite regression of atherosclerotic plaques."However, this study wasn't designed to test whether this treatment actually saves lives, so whilst

the results sound promising and are likely to translate into a better outcome for heart patients, we still need further studies to confirm whether the regression demonstrated translates to fewer heart attacks."The study will be published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in April.Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/4800772.stmPublished: 2006/03/14 00:16:32 GMT© BBC MMVI Barrowpozbod@...

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