(24-04-07) The Deadly Reasons Not to Take a ''Good'' Cholesterol Drug

Pfizer spent more than $900 million testing a potential heart drug called torcetrapib.
The drug increased levels of "good" cholesterol (HDL) by 50 percent and reduced "bad" cholesterol (LDL) by 20 percent. But in December 2006, a 15,000-patient study revealed that torcetrapib increased, rather than reduced, death rates.
Pfizer had hoped that torcetrapib would lead to a wave of new drugs that raise good cholesterol levels and reduce heart attack rates.
But studies examining the neck and coronary arteries of patients on the drug, using ultrasound imaging, showed that it did not actually clear clogged arteries. The drug also raised blood pressure by 4.6 points, and it may even have increased plaque buildup in arteries.
Torcetrapib works by blocking cholesterol ester transfer protein (CETP); it has long been debated whether this approach is beneficial. Other experimental HDL-boosting drugs have also either failed or produced mixed results.
For example, a pill developed by Eli Lilly to raise HDL and cut triglycerides heightened the risk for serious kidney and heart problems and proved no more effective than older heart drugs. CETP-blocking drugs being developed by Merck and Roche Holding may encounter problems similar to those faced by torcetrapib.
Forbes.com

Source: Yahoo News

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