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.

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 drug called evolocumab, when given every two weeks, cuts bad cholesterol by more than 60% in people at high risk for heart problems — and that result has shown up consistently in several major studies.

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 statins but still have high LDL, adding a drug called evolocumab can lower their chances of having a heart attack, stroke, or other serious heart problems by about 15% over two years.

For people with diabetes or clogged arteries who haven’t had a heart attack or stroke yet, taking a drug called evolocumab every two weeks can lower their chance of having a first heart attack, stroke, or heart-related death by about 25% over nearly 5 years.