Does the drug evolocumab help prevent heart attacks, strokes, or related heart problems in people with artery disease or high-risk diabetes who haven't had a heart attack or stroke before?

A big heart study is checking if adding a drug called evolocumab to usual cholesterol treatment helps prevent heart attacks, strokes, or heart-related deaths in people at high risk who haven’t had one before.

For people at high risk for heart problems because of diabetes or clogged arteries, taking a drug called evolocumab every two weeks can lower their chances of having a heart attack, stroke, or needing heart surgery by about 1 in 5 over nearly 5 years, compared to those who don’t take it.

A drug called Evolocumab helps lower the chance of serious heart problems like heart attacks and strokes in people at high risk — and it seems to work pretty well over about 8 months.

For people with heart disease who are already taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, adding a medicine called evolocumab can lower their chance of having a heart attack, stroke, or other serious heart problems by about 15% over two years.

For people with clogged arteries who are already on cholesterol drugs, adding a medicine called evolocumab helps lower their risk of heart problems — and it works pretty well even for those who've had a stroke before, though the benefit might be a bit smaller for them.