Is Vytorin Or Zetia Really Effective In Preventing Heart Disease?
Sometime in January, it was reported that Vytorin was not as effective in preventing heart disease than when using Zocor alone. Many studies have shown that high LDL cholesterol levels ("bad" cholesterol) corresponded with plaque formation, however, the information in this study revealed something completely different. While this combination showed an increased reduction in LDL cholesterol , or the "bad" cholesterol, this drug combination actually showed an increase in carotid intima-media thickness, a measurement of plaque formation. While this result was not significant, this finding still raises questions on whether or not lowering your bad cholesterol is sufficient enough to prevent atherosclerosis. These findings were discussed at the the annual conference of the American College of Cardiology this weekend.
Many of the cholesterol-lowering drugs currently on the market have trials, or studies, associated with them that examine the long-term effectiveness of the drug. Neither Zetia or Vytorin have any of these studies associated with it. Merck and Schering-Plough, the makers of Zocor and Zetia respectively, are currently conducting a trial examining the long-term benefits of Vytorin versus taking Zocor alone. The results of this study will not be available until 2012. So until then, we really do not know what the long-term effects of taking Zetia or Vytorin are in terms of plaque formation and heart disease.
So, if you are taking Vytorin or Zetia to lower your cholesterol, do not abruptly stop taking them abruptly. Discuss your concerns with your healthcare provider.
Comments
Is Zetia safe by itself? I take one Zetia and
six Welchol tablets a day. I do not take Vytorin. Thanks!
Hi James,
The information that is just coming out right now does include Zetia. Zetia does lower cholesterol - especially your “bad” cholesterol. But they don’t know how effective it is against the formation of plaque on your arteries (this can cause heart disease). They really haven’t had any studies looking at Zetia and how it can prevent heart disease, and the study that has just come out says that Zetia is not effective in preventing plaque formation (in this study, it actually increased plaque formation). So right now, no one really knows how effective Zetia really is.
Until they have more evidence that it does help prevent heart disease, doctors are being urged not to give Zetia to people unless nothing else works to lower their cholesterol.
I understood that this study was with people who had really high LDL cholesterol i.e. that family inherited kind and that the plaque was only slightly increased. That said, I’m not so sure I’d bother taking Vytorin or Zetia but that’s me. I’m still trying to get my cholesterol down by diet. Statins cause me too much pain. Since diet causes my cholesterol to be higher, I think it can lower it too.
I was able to lower my total cholesterol from 160 using Zocor to 100 using Vytorin. I have CAD and was told that I need to keep my LDL below 70. The latest test showed LDL at 53. I don’t relish the idea of increasing the statin dosage but if lower cholesterol with Vytorin doesn’t reduce plaque then what choice do I have?