Medicine That Helps Clean Bad Cholesterol From Your Blood
PCSK9 Inhibition: Insights From Clinical Trials and Future Prospects
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Achieving LDL-C levels as low as 30 mg/dL did not increase risk of neurocognitive issues or other feared side effects.
For decades, there was concern that very low cholesterol might impair brain function or increase depression or hemorrhagic stroke risk. This study shows no such link over 2–3 years.
Practical Takeaways
If you have heart disease and are on statins but still have high cholesterol, ask your doctor if a PCSK9 inhibitor might help.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Achieving LDL-C levels as low as 30 mg/dL did not increase risk of neurocognitive issues or other feared side effects.
For decades, there was concern that very low cholesterol might impair brain function or increase depression or hemorrhagic stroke risk. This study shows no such link over 2–3 years.
Practical Takeaways
If you have heart disease and are on statins but still have high cholesterol, ask your doctor if a PCSK9 inhibitor might help.
Publication
Journal
Frontiers in Physiology
Year
2020
Authors
J. Katzmann, I. Gouni-Berthold, U. Laufs
Related Content
Claims (6)
Blocking a protein called PCSK9 with certain drugs helps your body remove bad cholesterol from your blood more effectively.
For people with serious heart disease who are already taking cholesterol-lowering pills, adding one of two special drugs (evolocumab or alirocumab) can lower their chances of having a major heart problem—like a heart attack—by about 15% over a few years.
Taking a cholesterol drug called evolocumab to get really low LDL levels doesn’t seem to cause serious side effects like memory problems, diabetes, cataracts, or brain bleeds over 3 years, according to a major study.
If you take certain cholesterol-lowering shots like evolocumab or alirocumab every few weeks, they can cut your 'bad' cholesterol by about 60%, even if you're already on cholesterol pills, have a genetic form of high cholesterol, or can't handle statins.
People born with a certain gene change that breaks the PCSK9 gene tend to have much lower 'bad' cholesterol their whole lives and are far less likely to get heart disease — so scientists think blocking this gene with medicine might help protect others' hearts too.