Statins history starts since 1971. The stages of euphoria, rejection, success, the widespread introduction and even attempts to debunk have already passed during these times. Currently we are getting closer to understanding the true place of statins in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases
Lovastatin was the first statin to be approved and marketed in the United States and was the first generically available.2 This is a pharmaceutical substance which affects the synthesis of cholesterol in the liver. Lovastatin is used in medicine to reduce level of cholesterol in organism.
Scholars have proved that lovastatin is the only representative of its class, which can significantly reduce the risk of complications of atherosclerosis when it is used in primary prevention. This agent is responsible for the revolution in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia, initially achieving peak annual sales of more than $1 billion US.1
During treatment, patients must be on a standard diet with low cholesterol. Lovastatin is used with caution for patients with liver disease as well as with chronic alcoholism. While treatment with lovastatin you should periodically check the level of cholesterol in the blood and conduct liver tests. In case of increasing in blood liver enzymes and / or creatine the lovastatin treatment should be stopped immediately.
The drug is generally well tolerated by human organism; however some changes in liver function with increased transaminases in blood serum, muscle pain, myopathy, dyspepsia, headache and skin rash are possible. Lovastatin treatment is contraindicated during pregnancy and lactation, acute liver disease, persistent elevations of transaminase levels in blood plasma.
In 2012, the FDA acquainted certain progressions with the security data on the names of statins, which incorporated a little expanded danger of higher glucose levels and inevitable sort 2 diabetes diagnosis.3 Moreover, the statin marks now likewise reports potential subjective impacts, for example, perplexity and memory misfortune experienced by a few patients.
References
Mestrovic T. Statin History. News-Medicalnet. 2009. Available at: http://www.news-medical.net/health/Statin-History.aspx. Accessed March 20, 2016.
Opie L, Gersh B. Drugs For The Heart. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2013.
Statins: A Success Story Involving FDA, Academia and Industry. Fdagov. 2016.
Available at:
http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/WhatWeDo/History/ProductRegulation/SelectionsFromFDLIUpdateSeriesonFDAHistory/ucm082054.htm. Accessed March 20, 2016.
