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Professor Mohammad Arafah
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RIYADH — The American Heart Association Annual Meeting recently announced a study which reveals a new medicine that is considered to be the best of its kind in the history of clinical studies in the field of atherosclerosis regression.
The study known as “Glagov» said “Evolocumab” drug, produced by the American Company Amgen made a significant regression in the percentage of atherosclerosis for 68% for the patients included in the study. This gives a new hope for heart and atherosclerotic patients in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and it enables patients to avoid future heart attacks as a result of the development of the disease.
This is also positive in the economic perspective, as the harms of the disease are not limited to an individual’s death, but the costs also create a large burden on an individual’s finances and productivity. The burden of such disease on the economy is heavy. And the discovery of a new medicine like “Evolocumab” has a large effect in reducing the economic burden.
Plaque buildup in the artery can trigger a heart attack when it ruptures. The degree of plaque reduction in the study is well within the range of other heart medicines that found health benefits, according to Steven Nissen, the senior author of the paper that was also published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
“This is the first time anyone has shown these drugs do anything other than lower cholesterol,” said Nissen, chair of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.
Professor Mohammad Arafah, consultant, invasive cardiologist and a professor of cardiology at Faculty of Medicine, King Saud University, said the Kingdom is one of the countries that suffer a noticeable rise in the risk of heart and artery diseases. The studies proved that the rate of the spread of diabetes in the Kingdom is 24%, but for heart patients, it is near 51% which means that diabetes is the major risk factor for the spread of heart diseases. Whereas, 54% of citizens between the age of 30-70 years old are hypercholesterolemic, which means it is higher than 200 MG/DL, and 40% of the same age group have a high level of Triglyceride which means it is higher than 150 Mg/DL.
Professor Arafah also said that a study has been conducted on Saudi and Gulf patients with high cholesterol levels that is known as “Cepheus” and it was on patients who are on Statin medications that are considered the main source of treatment.
The study proved the effectiveness of these medications, but it also proved that these medications do not help more than 50% of patients in reaching the targeted levels for patients with a high risk of chronic heart diseases or anyone with a history of heart attack, according to the American and European Heart Associations guideline recommendations. Therefore, a more effective class of medications like “Evolocumab» is required to prevent the spread of this disease.
In addition to that, it helps more than 90% of patients with high and uncontrollable cholesterol to reach the targeted levels, which means patients at higher risks should reach a level less than 70 MG/DL and that is the level recommended by the leading global heart associations’ guidelines including the Saudi, American, and European Heart Associations.
The recently announced study was conducted by a steering committee of top leading cardiologists worldwide representing the best heart institutions headed by Professor Steven Nissen. — SG
