Heart drug 'safe for kidney patients'

Health - Jonathan Wood | 10 Jun 11. The full results of a trial show that people with chronic kidney disease can reduce their heart risk by taking a combination drug that lowers levels of 'bad' cholesterol. Taking cholesterol-lowering drugs such as statins to combat heart disease is pretty standard in people without kidney problems. But there was a great deal of uncertainty about using such treatments in people with impaired kidney function because of concerns about drug toxicity (the kidneys are key in getting rid of harmful substances). This is despite kidney patients being at high risk of heart problems. The study findings were first reported at an American Society of Nephrology conference in Denver in November, and in our news story at the time, but the full results have now been published in The Lancet . The SHARP trial found that patients receiving the daily pill - a combination of simvastatin and ezetimibe produced by Merck - had one-sixth fewer heart attacks, strokes or operations to unblock arteries than those receiving a placebo 'dummy' pill.