September 20, 2018

expert reaction to research that new drugs could reduce risk of heart disease and diabetes when added to statins

Reactions to a study published in JAMA Cardiology reporting that the addition of new drugs to statins could increase their effectiveness in treating heart disease and diabetes.

Dr Riyaz Patel, BHF Fellow at UCL and Consultant Cardiologist, said:

“Developing new drugs is expensive and difficult, several promising heart disease drugs have failed at the last hurdle.

“Drug companies and researchers are now increasingly using genetics to try and predict which drugs may be useful and which ones may fail.  So far, this seems to be quite a promising approach, although there are assumptions and caveats with these studies, so they need to be interpreted appropriately.

“This study is exciting as it shows that lowering triglyceride cholesterol through these new drugs may reduce heart disease and diabetes risk. However, we are still some time away from being able to prescribe these drugs, and we’ll have to wait for clinical trials to prove their effectiveness, which may still be a decade away.

“But for now it gives encouragement to patients, the medical and scientific community of a new emerging therapy that could one day save lives.”

Declared interests

None received.