The Study
Evolocumab and Clinical Outcomes in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease
This study is like a fair test where half the people got the real medicine and half got a fake one, and nobody knew who got what. It shows that the medicine really does lower bad cholesterol and helps prevent heart attacks and strokes in people who already have heart disease.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Some people with heart disease take cholesterol pills but still have high cholesterol. This study tested adding a special shot (evolocumab) to their pills to see if it helps prevent heart attacks and strokes.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 574 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes, the result is important — even small reductions in heart events matter for high-risk patients, and lowering cholesterol further helps, even when levels are already low.
- 2Out of 27,564 people: the shot cut bad cholesterol by 59%, reduced heart problems by 15%, and strokes/heart attacks/deaths by 20%.
- 3Only side: slightly more soreness at the injection site.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
The New England Journal of Medicine
Year
2017
Authors
M. Sabatine, R. Giugliano, A. Keech, Narimon Honarpour, S. Wiviott, S. Murphy, J. Kuder, Huei Wang, Thomas Liu, S. Wasserman, P. Sever, T. Pedersen
Related Content
Claims (7)
Adding a drug called evolocumab to cholesterol-lowering statins can lower the chances of serious heart problems by 20% in people who already have heart disease.
Adding a drug called evolocumab to cholesterol-lowering statins can lower the chances of serious heart problems by 20% in people who already have heart disease.
For people with heart disease who are on cholesterol-lowering drugs, adding a drug called evolocumab doesn’t raise their risk of serious side effects like diabetes or memory problems — the only real downside is a slightly higher chance of soreness at the injection site.
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.
Even if your cholesterol is already pretty low thanks to statins, adding a drug called evolocumab can still help protect your heart and blood vessels.
For people with heart disease who are already taking cholesterol-lowering pills, adding a drug called evolocumab can slash their bad cholesterol by about 60% in less than a year—bringing it down to very low levels.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.