Articles
Vytorin and Enhance study
Vytorin and Zetia in the news
Saturday, February 02, 2008
What You Should Know About
Vytorin
and the ENHANCE Study
I’ve heard about the ENHANCE drug study in the news. What exactly is it?
The ENHANCE study compared
Vytorin to Zocor. Vytorin contains ezetimibe andZocor contains simvastatin only.Zetia).Vytorin reduced plaque build-up in bloodZocor. Vytorin wasn’t better than Zocor at reducing plaque build-up, but it
I’m taking Vytorin, so what does ENHANCE mean for me?
Right now, this new information probably won’t affect you.
reducing plaque build-up in blood vessels, but it is better at lowering LDL cholesterol. Most
importantly, it isn’t known if
strokes, and death. There are studies in progress that will determine this, and the information
will be available within the next few years.
For now, experts recommend that healthcare providers continue to prescribe medicines
necessary to lower LDL cholesterol. No changes should be made based on this latest study.
Vytorin isn’t better than Zocor atVytorin is better or worse than Zocor at preventing heart attacks,
Is taking Vytorin or Zetia dangerous?
No. The ENHANCE study didn’t show a difference in side effects between
Vytorin and
Zocor
products are dangerous.
. At this point, there’s no reason to believe that Vytorin or other ezetimibe-containing
Should I stop taking Vytorin or Zetia?
No, not without discussing it with your healthcare provider first.
simvastatin, two medicines that lower LDL (bad) cholesterol.
(Ezetimibe is sold by itself too, as
The goal of the ENHANCE study was to see if
vessels better than
was better at lowering LDL cholesterol.
It’s important to know that the ENHANCE study only included people with a genetic disorder
that causes them to have unusually high levels of cholesterol. It affects about one in 500 people.
The average person with high cholesterol probably doesn’t have this disorder.
Another important point is that only a small amount of information has been released about
the ENHANCE study. Researchers are still analyzing the data. It will be a few months before
we know all of the details.
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