Results of landmark statin study revealed

In one of the hottest medical findings in the current year, the JUPITER (Justification for the Use of Statins in Primary Prevention: An Intervention Trial Evaluating Rosuvastatin) Trial showed that statins could cut the risk of heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular death in apparently healthy individuals.

The results of the landmark trial showed that rosuvastatin calcium 20 mg significantly reduced major cardiovascular events that include combined risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, arterial revascularization, hospitalization for unstable angina or death from cardiovascular disease by 44 percent compared to placebo. 

This was seen in men and women with elevated high sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) but with low to normal cholesterol levels.  

Rosuvastatin calcium is a drug that lowers LDL-C (bad) cholesterol and increases HDL-C (good) cholesterol.

Other than its better tolerability in apparently healthy patients, study results also demonstrated lowered risk of heart attack by 54 percent.

Risk of stroke was also cut by nearly half and the total death was decreased by 20 percent. CRP levels were significantly reduced among those treated with statin therapy.

The JUPITER study results also confirmed that for the first time statin therapy is highly effective in the prevention of heart disease. 

Investigators of the study also revealed that the use of statins decreased cardiovascular events in women and black and Hispanic populations, for which data on primary prevention are limited.

Dr. Paul Ridker, lead author of the landmark trial and the director of the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, emphasized that the results are very significant in the practice of cardiology.

“The results are relevant for patient care and prevention of heart attack and stroke,” Ridker said. 

The results of the JUPITER study were presented in the recently concluded American Heart Association 2008 Scientific Sessions and were simultaneously published online by the New England Journal of Medicine.

JUPITER is a part of an extensive GALAXY clinical trial program undertaken by its sponsor, AstraZeneca, designed to address important unanswered questions in statin research.

At present, more than 69,000 patients have been recruited from 55 countries worldwide to participate in the GALAXY program.