Beneficial effects of colestipol-niacin on coronary atherosclerosis: a 4-year follow-up

Article Abstract:

Results from four years of research are reported from the Cholesterol Lowering Atherosclerosis Study II (CLAS-II) concerning a subgroup of 103 patients who were followed the entire time. The patients were randomly assigned to drug therapy plus diet (56 patients) or placebo plus diet (47): all participants were men between 40 and 59 who had undergone coronary artery bypass surgery (attachment of a vessel graft so blood could bypass damaged coronary arteries to nourish the heart). The drugs used were colestipol and niacin. Angiograms (X-ray studies of the coronary arteries after they were injected with a dye) were performed at the beginning of CLAS, at the end of CLAS-I (after two years), and after four years, at the end of CLAS-II. Results showed that the improvements in blood cholesterol apparent in CLAS-I continued in CLAS-II: these included improvements in lipid, lipoprotein-cholesterol, and apolipoprotein levels (various ways cholesterol is carried in the body). More patients in the drug group than the placebo group had nonprogression of their coronary artery lesions (52 versus 15 percent), and regression of lesions was also more common for drug-treated patients (18 versus 6 percent). Fewer new lesions appeared in subjects who received drugs. The positive effects observed after two years of treatment were even more pronounced after four years. No differences were seen between the groups in total cardiac event rates (heart attack, cardiac death). Overall, treatment with lipid-lowering drugs was markedly beneficial for these patients. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Measurement, Drug therapy, Blood cholesterol, Niacin, Colestipol

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Serial coronary angiographic evidence that antioxidant vitamin intake reduces progression of coronary artery atherosclerosis

Article Abstract:

Supplementary doses of vitamin E may slow the progression of coronary artery disease. A total of 156 men between the ages of 40 to 49 who previously had undergone coronary bypass surgery and had participated in the Cholesterol Lowering Atherosclerosis Study were enrolled. The men each received three kinds of treatment: a high dose or a low dose of vitamin E; a high dose or a low dose of vitamin C; and, either drug therapy or a placebo as a control. Coronary angiography was used to measure narrowing of vessel diameter which indicates the progression of the disease.The men who took high doses vitamin E a day showed reduced progress toward coronary artery disease compared to patients who took the lower dose. No benefit was found for patients in the study who took supplementary vitamin C.

Health aspects, Care and treatment, Vitamin E, Vitamin C

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Hormone therapy and the progression of coronary-artery atherosclerosis in postmenopausal women

Article Abstract:

Hormone replacement therapy does not slow the progression of existing coronary artery disease, according to a study of 226 postmenopausal women. This is true of both estrogen-only therapy and estrogen-progestin therapy. This study actually compared the coronary angiograms of women who took hormone replacement therapy and those who did not. There was no significant difference between the two groups during an average follow-up of 3.3 years.

Physiological aspects, Development and progression, Hormone therapy, Hormone replacement therapy

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