| FDA Clears Abbott's Combination Heart Drug
The Food and Drug Administration granted Abbott Laboratories approval for Simcor, a drug that raises "good" cholesterol and lowers both "bad" cholesterol and triglycerides. Simcor is a combination of two existing, approved treatments: simvastatin, a statin, and Abbott's Niaspan, an extended-release version of niacin, a B vitamin. Simcor's approval is the first for a cholesterol drug since questions cropped up about the effectiveness of another treatment, Merck & Co. and Schering-Plough Corp.'s Vytorin, and could augur well for FDA approval of Merck's Cordaptive cholesterol-lowering drug, which also is based on niacin. Statin treatments lower LDL, or bad cholesterol, but don't treat HDL -- good cholesterol -- or triglycerides, two other types of lipids associated with cardiac problems if found at abnormal levels.
Knowing facts about cholesterol can save life
Almost 76 million Americans are living with elevated LDL -- the "bad" cholesterol that is a major risk for heart disease, the No. 1 killer in the United States. High cholesterol is also linked to hardening of the arteries and can lead to stroke. September is National Cholesterol Education Month. Here's what you need to know: Understanding the substance Cholesterol is a waxy, fatlike substance produced in the liver and used by the body to make cell membranes, hormones, bile acids, vitamin D and other substances. Cholesterol is carried throughout the body in packages called lipoproteins, which have lipids (fat) on the inside and protein on the outside. The body makes all the cholesterol it needs but takes in extra, mostly from fatty foods.
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