Statin Therapy

The benefits of statin use to prevent cardiovascular disease and mortality in patients with rheumatoid arthritis outweigh the risks for developing type 2 diabetes, according to data presented at ACR Convergence 2021.

About 25% of U.S. adults have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, which is the most common chronic liver condition in the U.S., according to the American Liver Foundation.

New data showed that the live attenuated varicella-zoster vaccine was safe and provided short-term effectiveness in patients receiving TNF inhibitors. A report on the data was the top story in rheumatology last week.

There is no significant increase in the risk for rheumatoid arthritis in patients who use statins, compared with nonusers, according to data published in Arthritis Research & Therapy.

Among patients with diabetes, those who used statins were significantly more likely to experience diabetes progression than those who did not use statins, a retrospective matched-cohort study showed.

People living with HIV are at elevated CV risk and evidence-based cholesterol lowering therapies are either underutilized or contraindicated based on patients’ anti-retroviral HIV therapies, according to a speaker.

LDL-lowering therapeutics have evolved since the introduction of bile acid sequestrants in 1973, and approaches in development may prove even more effective than those in the past and present, according to a speaker.

Accurate and precise laboratory lipid measurements are important. As such, the National Lipid Association has released a new scientific statement on lipid measurements in the management of CVDs.

CAD has proved to be a highly preventable disease. Reduction in risk for CAD has been accomplished by changes in lifestyle such as cessation of smoking or lowering plasma cholesterol by drug therapy. Multiple randomized placebo-controlled clinical trials since the early 1990s targeting lowering of plasma cholesterol have consistently been associated with a 30% to 40% reduction in cardiac morbidity and mortality. Despite these efforts, CVD remains the most common cause of death in the U.S. and is also the most common cause of death throughout the world. Secondary prevention has been effective, whereas primary prevention offers even greater benefits and is more appropriate, if not necessary, to reduce this pandemic.

New data showed that 2% of patients receiving low- or moderate-intensity statin therapy had estimated severe hypercholesterolemia but received less aggressive therapy than those with maximum measured severe hypercholesterolemia.