Cholesterol therapy lowers healthcare costs among diabetic sufferers
December 29, 2001 | 12:00am
A recent report shows that diabetic patients taking cholesterol controlling drug significantly reduced the length and cost of hospitalization due to cardiovascular disease (CVD). The analysis from the landmark Scandinavian Simvastatin Survival Study (4S) is published in Diabetes Care.
In the analysis of coronary heart disease (CHD) patients with diabetes, treatment with simvastatin cut the cost of CVD-related hospital care by 43.6 percent; reduced total CVD-related hospital days by 55 percent; decreased the incidence of CVD-related hospitalizations by 40 percent; and shortened hospital days by an average of 2.4 days.
"Heart disease is the leading killer worldwide and is especially troublesome for people with diabetes," said Terje Pederson, M.D. cardiology department head at Aker Hospital, Oslo, Norway, and study co-author. "This new analysis clearly demonstrates that therapy with simvastatin provides significant clinical benefits to diabetes patients and reduced healthcare costs. These results provide additional evidence regarding long-term outcomes from treatment with simvastatin, which has been shown to save lives."
The number of people with diabetes has tripled since 1985 to nearly 135 million people worldwide, a figure expected to rise to 300 million by 2025. Coronary heart disease is the most common cause of premature death in patients with diabetes, with the risk of death form CHD for diabetes without a prior heart attack similar to non-diabetics who have experienced a heart attack. Approximately four out of five adults with diabetes die prematurely due to CHD, cardiovascular disease (primarily stroke), or peripheral vascular disease.
The placebo-controlled study analyzed 483 people with diabetes, 678 people with impaired fasting glucose (IFG- a risk factor for future diabetes), and 3,237 people with normal fasting glucose (NFG) over a period of 5.4 years. All patients had elevated cholesterol levels (212-309 mg/dl or 5.5 - 8.0 mmo/L) and were administered either the recommended starting dose of simvastatin or placebo (sugar pills). Simvastatin was increased to twice the recommended starting dose if further cholesterol reductions were needed to reach target levels (3.0 to 5.2 mmo/L or 116 to 201 mg/dl).
The study report in the Diabetes Care also shows that treatment with simvastatin reduced the incidence of CVD-related hospitalizations by 30 percent in IFG patients and 23 percent in NFG patients; decrease total CVD-related hospital days by 39% in IFG patients and 28 percent in NFG patients; cut the average cost of CVD-related hospitalizations by 35.2 percent for IFG patients and 28.1 percent reduction for NFG patients.
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic, progressive condition characterized by abnormally high blood levels of glucose as a result of insufficient insulin production or the body's inability to utilize insulin properly. Population aging and unhealthy lifestyles have contributed to the dramatic rise seen in cases of type-2 diabetes. Three major risk factors - elevated blood cholesterol, hypertension and cigarette smoking - increase the overall mortality due to CHD in both non-diabetics and diabetics patients. Common findings in type-2 diabetes include mildly elevated LDL-C (low density lipoprotein cholesterol) levels, reduced HDL-C (high density lipoprotein cholesterol) levels, and increase tryglyceride concentrations that are more likely to lead to atherosclerosis that the same levels in people without diabetes.
Simvastatin, a member of the "statin" class of drugs, is the world's most widely used cholesterol drug and has a proven long-term safety profile with up to 10 years of experience in clinical practice. Simvastatin is proven to substantially lower LDL-C (bad cholesterol) and triglycerides while also significantly increasing HDL-C (good cholesterol).
In the analysis of coronary heart disease (CHD) patients with diabetes, treatment with simvastatin cut the cost of CVD-related hospital care by 43.6 percent; reduced total CVD-related hospital days by 55 percent; decreased the incidence of CVD-related hospitalizations by 40 percent; and shortened hospital days by an average of 2.4 days.
"Heart disease is the leading killer worldwide and is especially troublesome for people with diabetes," said Terje Pederson, M.D. cardiology department head at Aker Hospital, Oslo, Norway, and study co-author. "This new analysis clearly demonstrates that therapy with simvastatin provides significant clinical benefits to diabetes patients and reduced healthcare costs. These results provide additional evidence regarding long-term outcomes from treatment with simvastatin, which has been shown to save lives."
The number of people with diabetes has tripled since 1985 to nearly 135 million people worldwide, a figure expected to rise to 300 million by 2025. Coronary heart disease is the most common cause of premature death in patients with diabetes, with the risk of death form CHD for diabetes without a prior heart attack similar to non-diabetics who have experienced a heart attack. Approximately four out of five adults with diabetes die prematurely due to CHD, cardiovascular disease (primarily stroke), or peripheral vascular disease.
The placebo-controlled study analyzed 483 people with diabetes, 678 people with impaired fasting glucose (IFG- a risk factor for future diabetes), and 3,237 people with normal fasting glucose (NFG) over a period of 5.4 years. All patients had elevated cholesterol levels (212-309 mg/dl or 5.5 - 8.0 mmo/L) and were administered either the recommended starting dose of simvastatin or placebo (sugar pills). Simvastatin was increased to twice the recommended starting dose if further cholesterol reductions were needed to reach target levels (3.0 to 5.2 mmo/L or 116 to 201 mg/dl).
The study report in the Diabetes Care also shows that treatment with simvastatin reduced the incidence of CVD-related hospitalizations by 30 percent in IFG patients and 23 percent in NFG patients; decrease total CVD-related hospital days by 39% in IFG patients and 28 percent in NFG patients; cut the average cost of CVD-related hospitalizations by 35.2 percent for IFG patients and 28.1 percent reduction for NFG patients.
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic, progressive condition characterized by abnormally high blood levels of glucose as a result of insufficient insulin production or the body's inability to utilize insulin properly. Population aging and unhealthy lifestyles have contributed to the dramatic rise seen in cases of type-2 diabetes. Three major risk factors - elevated blood cholesterol, hypertension and cigarette smoking - increase the overall mortality due to CHD in both non-diabetics and diabetics patients. Common findings in type-2 diabetes include mildly elevated LDL-C (low density lipoprotein cholesterol) levels, reduced HDL-C (high density lipoprotein cholesterol) levels, and increase tryglyceride concentrations that are more likely to lead to atherosclerosis that the same levels in people without diabetes.
Simvastatin, a member of the "statin" class of drugs, is the world's most widely used cholesterol drug and has a proven long-term safety profile with up to 10 years of experience in clinical practice. Simvastatin is proven to substantially lower LDL-C (bad cholesterol) and triglycerides while also significantly increasing HDL-C (good cholesterol).
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