Posted on 09/02/2008 7:58:56 AM PDT by nuconvert
Doctors say Vytorin-cancer link can't be ruled out
MUNICH, Germany - Results from three studies of the cholesterol-lowering drug Vytorin are not enough to prove or rule out a possible link to a higher risk of cancer, so the drug should be used with great caution until more is known, editors of a leading medical journal urged Tuesday.
The New England Journal of Medicine published results of the studies, which also were presented at a cardiology conference in Munich.
Vytorin is a combination of Merck's Zocor, a long-sold statin drug, and Schering-Plough's Zetia, a newer type of medicine that lowers cholesterol in a different way.
The possible cancer risk unexpectedly arose in July, when Dr. Terje Pedersen of Oslo, Norway, announced preliminary results from a study testing whether Vytorin could prevent damage to the heart's aortic valve from worsening.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I continue to scratch my head... We continue to see new “wonder drugs” hit the market to save us from our own natural demise. And then a handful of years later, info eventually surfaces that the drugs themselves may be killing us...
And then such revelation is always quickly followed by wave after wave of ambulance-chasing attorneys who promise big bucks to those who have used those drugs...
I just don’t get it.
fish oil?? any particular kind?? i was on vytorin for awhile and it seemed to work well enough.. but i already went thru the cancer thing before vt...
I use ESKIMO 1000mg fish oil. Three times a day. Wonderful result!
Also take NewChapter zyflamend softgels for joint pain which also contains cholesterol lowering ingredients.
I have consistently refused to take medication for anything other than an occassional anti-biotic (about once every two years) for infection. I take Aspirin & Aleve for age related pains and I take lots of vitamins and yes, fish oil. I’m 74 and still running.
Can they rule out the apple-cancer link?
The actual mechanism may be that lowering cholesterol by whatever means weakens the immune system’s ability to fight cancer. I have seen papers linking very low fat diets with cancer too. IOW, its not the drug’s fault, its just that there are tradeoffs between cleaner arteries and cancer.
3000MG a day??? that seems like a lot, but i guess if its just fish oil cant really hurt... maybe i will try that... trying mostly to change diet.. though that is not always successful...
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