February 9th, 2010
Tuesday February 9 News Roundup: Rosuvastatin Gets Primary Prevention Indication; Providing Global Risk Assessment; IBD & VTE
Larry Husten, PHD
New Indication for Crestor: The FDA on Monday granted a primary prevention indication for rosuvastatin (Crestor, AstraZeneca). The decisionis based on the results of the JUPITER trial and a subsequent FDA advisory panel hearing. Click here to read the FDA’s Questions and Answers from the FDA for Healthcare Professionals on CRESTOR and the JUPITER Trial. Click here to download a PDF of the new label.
Global Risk: Providing patients with a global coronary heart disease risk estimation helps “improve the accuracy of risk perception and may increase intent to initiate CHD prevention among individuals at moderate to high risk,” according to a systematic review by Sheridan and colleagues in Archives of Internal Medicine, but evidence remains elusive that this information actually benefits the patients. Although we “need to shift from a reactive to a preventive paradigm in medicine,” write Tariq Ahmad and Samia Mora in an accompanying editorial, “the role of risk scores in this shift, and the newer biomarker and genetic information relating to personalized medicine, remain to be determined.”
IBD & VTE: Non-hospitalized patients who have active inflammatory bowel disease are 16 times more likely to develop VTE than controls, according to a new study from the UK General Practice Research Database appearing in the Lancet. In their conclusion the authors say that “trials of primary prophylaxis of venous thromboembolism are warranted” in this population.
NEJM — Recent Cardiology Articles- The Hypertension Control Paradox — Why Is America Stuck? January 29, 2026Why is the United States failing to control the population’s blood pressure, despite the availability of well-understood, effective interventions? And what can health systems do to move the needle?
- Seeing It Through — Lessons from a Retinal Stroke Trial January 29, 2026The retina is a specialized patch of central nervous system tissue located at the back of the eye. When the principal source of oxygen and metabolic substrates to the retina — the central retinal artery — is occluded, rapid retinal cell death and loss of visual function ensue. This acute...
- CORE Principles in the Management of Severe Hypertriglyceridemia January 29, 2026Management of hypertriglyceridemia for reducing the risk of serious clinical complications, including hypertriglyceridemia-induced acute pancreatitis, has historically been formidable and frustrating for clinicians and patients. Challenges are related to variable success in adherence to the lifestyle modifications that are required to reduce triglyceride levels, the predominantly polygenic and multifactorial determinants...
- Medicare’s Role in Fighting Chronic Disease January 29, 2026The U.S. government can combat chronic disease among Medicare patients by strengthening primary care, expanding access to preventive care, making care more affordable, and modernizing Medicare benefits.
- Peripheral Artery Disease in the Legs January 29, 2026Peripheral artery disease is linked to cardiovascular risk and impaired mobility. Diagnosis relies on ankle–brachial index testing, and management involves cardiovascular risk reduction, exercise, and selective revascularization.
- The Hypertension Control Paradox — Why Is America Stuck? January 29, 2026