A new study reveals Nexletol, a cholesterol-lowering drug helps in reducing the risk of heart attack for those who cannot take statins. Read to know more.
What is Nexletol?
Nexletol is a new and different type of cholesterol-lowering drug. A major study revealed this helps in reducing the risk of heart attacks and other issues related to high cholesterol levels. Statins are usually the first choice of treatment for this. However, millions of people cannot tolerate them or don’t take them due to the side effects. Chemically known as bempedoic acid, doctors have been prescribing them together with a statin to help some high-risk patients. However, the study was testing the use of Nexleton without statins.
High levels of LDL or “bad” cholesterol clog the arteries and lead to heart strokes and attacks. Statin medicines such as Crestor, Lipitor, and others help in lowering LDL by blocking some cholesterol production in the liver. However, after taking them, some people suffer from muscle strains and pain. As per some studies, about 10 percent of people who qualify to take statins cannot take them due to the side effects.
Why is this revolutionary?
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Nexletol blocks the production of cholesterol in the liver. However, the method is different and does not lead to muscle strain and pain. As per the five-year study, patients who took Nexletol had a 13 percent lower risk for major cardiac problems. Additionally, upon teasing apart different conditions they found a shocking 23 percent lower risk for heart attack. It also reduced the need for surgically unclogging arteries by 19 percent.
The study funded by Esperion Therapeutics, the makers of the drugs was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. As per Dr. John Alexander, a Duke University researcher who was not involved in the study, the results are very “compelling”. “It is premature, however, to consider bempedoic acid as an alternative to statins. Given the overwhelming evidence of the vascular benefits,” he stated. However, there was no difference in deaths. But researchers believe longer studies will help in better understanding it.
