Heart patients with normal cholesterol levels are not helped by cholesterol lowering drugs, a research team has concluded. They discovered that the drugs had "no measurable benefit" on coronary arteries.
Most tests have been carried out on patients with high cholesterol levels, yet the majority of heart patients have normal levels. Doctors had believed from earlier trials that the drugs could benefit nonsmokers, even if they had normal levels of cholesterol, yet the latest trial was also among nonsmokers.
The role of polyunsaturated fats, such as the use of margarine, may be overplayed in reducing the risks of heart disease, a new study has concluded.
They may even increase the level of fatty deposits in the blood vessels, say researchers from the Wynn Institute for Metabolic Research in London.