"...on Monday, Merck and Schering-Plough
announced that Vytorin, which combines Zetia with Zocor, had failed to reduce
the growth of fatty arterial plaque in a trial of 720 patients. In fact,
patients taking Vytorin actually had more plaque growth than those who took
Zocor alone.
Despite those drawbacks, that trial, called Enhance, also showed that patients
on Vytorin had lower LDL levels than those on Zocor alone. For the second time
in just over a year, a clinical trial found that LDL reduction did not
translate into measurable medical benefits."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/17/business/17drug.html?ref=health
[BL: lends credence to the argument that some have made to the effect that the
reason some of these drugs work a little, such as Crestor, is that they are
anti-oxidants as well has HMG-CO Reductase inhibitors. Certain polyphenols,
such as pomegranate juice, have in fact been shown to actually reverse plaque
buildup.]
http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/full/23/5/501S
- Statin medications inhibit the same rate-controlling
enzyme of the cholesterol biosynthesis pathway that requires
adequate Mg for normal deactivation, regulation and control.
- Both the highly beneficial pleiotropic and
adverse effects of statins appear to be caused by
the decrease in mevalonate (and perhaps other
intermediaries in the cholesterol biosynthesis pathway) rather
than a lower LDL-C.
- Statin drugs lower LDL-C levels more sharply
than do Mg supplements, but Mg more reliably acts to
improve all aspects of dyslipidemia including raising HDL-C
and lowering triglycerides, and has the same pleiotropic
effects as statins without their adverse effects.