Separating Fact from Bioidentical Hype

Separating Fact from Bioidentical Hype

Hot from Menopausal Symptoms and Bothered by the Media Hype about Hormone Replacement? People are hearing about bioidentical hormone replacement along with more traditional types of prescribed hormone medication from the Oprah show and other media. Lets separate Fact from Fiction. The word "bioidentical" is not an accurate medical description of this new, unregulated substance and it certainly is not exactly like the hormones the body produces otherwise there would not be a measurable and clinically evident toxic build-up in the body. In "Revitalize Your Hormones: Dr. Dale's 7 Steps to a Happier, Healthier, and Sexier You" (Wiley; May 2005), Dr. Theresa Dale offers a medically proven natural alternative to invasive and dangerous hormone replacement therapies. Dale invented the world's only clinically proven, FDA registered, homeopathic hormone rejuvenation formulas used for restoring hormone balance without side effects.

(PRWEB) February 19, 2009 -- Hot from Menopausal Symptoms and Bothered by the Media Hype about Hormone Replacement? People are hearing about bioidentical hormone replacement along with more traditional types of prescribed hormone medication from the Oprah show and other media. Lets separate Fact from Fiction. The new buzz word "bioidentical" is deceptive. It's not an accurate medical description of this new, unregulated substance and it is not exactly like the body produces. Clearly there is a measurable and clinically evident toxic build-up in the body.

Bioidentical hormone replacement is not natural even though it originates from yam or soy; it has been compounded and thus a synthetic. That's right; health providers perform thousands of before and after saliva tests on patients and it is clear that there is a toxic build up of all hormone replacement including bioidentical HRT.

Women are wary of recent warnings linking hormone replacement therapy with an increased risk for heart disease, stroke and breast cancer, more and more women are turning to alternative and natural ways to balance their hormone levels. Studies have shown that using hormones such as Prempro, Othro-Prefest or Premphase and bioidentical HRT causes the body to shut down production of its own hormones creating a dependency. Hormone replacement therapy can also elevate existing hormone levels to toxically high amounts, which can tax the adrenal glands, burden the liver, kidneys, and circulatory and immune systems.

Yet, there is a superior way to get both clinically proven and evidence based relief without being exposed to the toxic effects of ALL of these drugs. Health providers throughout the US are using FDA registered NuFem & EndoPure Homeopathic Hormone Rejuvenation, developed by Theresa Dale, ND, CCN, NP.

In "Revitalize Your Hormones: Dr. Dale's 7 Steps to a Happier, Healthier, and Sexier You" (Wiley; May 2005; $15.95/Paper), Dr. Theresa Dale offers a medically proven alternative to invasive and dangerous hormone replacement therapies. With over 20 years of experience as a Naturopathic Doctor, Certified Clinical Nutritionist and researcher, Dr. Dale has helped women balance their hormone levels through safe, non-toxic program. The world's only clinically proven homeopathic hormone rejuvenation formulas used for restoring hormone balance without side effects. These formulas actually produce healthy hormone levels in women of various ages, and eliminate symptoms such as hot flashes, mood swings, low libido, low energy and irregular menses. The formulas are FDA approved and regulated and are prepared at an FDA registered pharmacy. The remedy goes through a lengthy preparation processes. For example, an herb or substance is diluted and prepared in a manner so that just a micro amount of the original substance is left in the final formula. This method of natural preparation enhances all the properties of the herb and amplifies its efficacy. Homeopathic medicine has been used for 200 years throughout the world, and is natural without toxic side effects. See The Wellness Center website for more education about Homeopathy.

The medical establishment's approach to balancing hormones fails to embrace the concept of the body as a natural living system that is capable of self-repair. Its regimens are based on the premise that people need to look outside our bodies for hormone help via one-size-fits-all drugs. The only hormones that are safe for the human body are the ones the body makes. By using a totally natural and homeopathic program, it is possible to restore emotional, physical and sexual health by following simple and safe individualized nutritional and exercise guidelines.

For more information, call Theresa Dale's office at 866 962 6484.

Theresa Dale, ND, CCN, NP

Founder, The Wellness Center For Research & Education, Inc.

Dean, California College of Natural Medicine

www.wellnesscenter.net

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Contact Information Theresa Dale

The Wellness Center

http://www.wellnesscenter.net

866 962 6484

Dr. Theresa Dale, ND, CCN, NP

The Wellness Center

http://www.wellnesscenter.net

805 984 7200

Baltimore LASIK Eye Surgeon Walter J. Stark, M.D. of the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins Joins Trusted LASIK Surgeons Directory

Baltimore LASIK Eye Surgeon Walter J. Stark, M.D. of the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins Joins Trusted LASIK Surgeons Directory

Trusted LASIK Surgeons announced today that LASIK and refractive eye surgery expert Doctor Walter Stark of the Wilmer Laser Vision Center at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland has joined the Trusted LASIK Surgeons Directory, an informational resource for consumers looking for vision correction and improvement through laser and lasik eye surgery or another refractive eye surgery procedure. Dr. Stark's practice primarily serves patients seeking laser eye surgery throughout Maryland including Arlington, Bethesda, and Frederick, Washington D.C., Dover and Newark in Delaware, as well as surrounding states, and patients visiting from international locations.

Baltimore, MD (PRWEB) February 20, 2009 -- Trusted LASIK Surgeons (http://www.trustedlasiksurgeons.com/index.htm) announced today that Walter J. Stark, M.D. (http://trustedlasiksurgeons.com/baltimore_lasik_surgeon_walter_stark_md.htm), of the Wilmer Laser Vision Center at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland (http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/wilmer/lasik) is listed in the Trusted LASIK Surgeons Directory (http://www.TrustedLASIKSurgeons.com), an informational resource for consumers looking to improve their vision through laser eye surgery or another refractive eye surgery procedure. Dr. Stark's practice primarily serves patients seeking improve uncorrected visual acuity through LASIK and laser eye surgery in Baltimore, Arlington, Columbia, Rockville and Washington, D.C. areas (http://www.trustedlasiksurgeons.com/baltimore_lasik_surgeons.htm). Dr. Stark also treats patients seeking LASIK and other vision correction procedures throughout Maryland (http://trustedlasiksurgeons.com/maryland_lasik_surgeons.htm), as well as surrounding states and international countries.

Trusted LASIK Surgeons directory endeavors to list only those LASIK eye surgeons who are among the best in the United States. To accomplish this, Trusted LASIK Surgeons screens each eye surgeon based on experience, premier patient care, and professional credentials. Trusted LASIK Surgeons estimates that Dr. Stark's outstanding professional credentials place him among the top 1% of LASIK and refractive surgeons in the United States.

The most significant professional qualifications that set Dr. Stark apart from the majority of LASIK eye surgeons in the United States are based on his extensive research, teaching and consulting expertise. Dr. Stark serves as a Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology and Director of the Stark-Mosher Center for Cataract and Corneal Diseases of The Wilmer Eye Institute Wilmer Eye Institute (http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/wilmer) at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, which is repeatedly ranked as the top eye care center in the nation in surveys by U.S. News & World Report and Ophthalmology Times. He has served as a principal investigator for 1 FDA study for vision correction lasers, has written 10 textbook chapters and textbooks, and has published over 400 scientific articles for major peer-reviewed eye journals. In addition, he serves in an editorial capacity for Ophthalmology Times and Ophthalmology World News. Dr. Stark has made over 400 presentations at major eye meetings throughout the world. He was the former chairman and is currently a consultant for the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Ophthalmologic Devices Panel. He is also a consultant for the National Eye Institute, as well as many organizations dedicated to improving vision, including the Medical Eye Bank of Maryland, Tissue Eye Banks International, Project ORBIS, and the National Foundation for Eye Research among others. His considerable contributions to the field of refractive eye surgery have earned him the respect of his peers throughout the world.

In the course of helping patients improve their vision, Dr. Stark has performed thousands of LASIK eye surgery and laser vision correction procedures. With over 18 years of experience in laser vision surgery, including LASIK, as well as in other refractive surgery procedures such lens implants, Dr. Stark has the proven know-how to provide patients with the best care available.

Certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology, this highly qualified LASIK eye surgeon is an active member of many professional organizations. The American Academy of Ophthalmology, where he has served for several years as the Chairman of the Committee for Research and Regulatory Agencies and the Chairman for the Committee for Ophthalmic Technology Development, has honored him with an Achievement Award, a Life Achievement Honor Award, the Binkhorst Medal Lectureship and a Senior Honor Award. In addition, Dr. Stark is a member of the American Medical Association, the Cornea Society (formerly the Castroviejo Society), the International Society for Contact Lens Research, the Microbiology and Immunology Group, Ophthalmic Genetics Study Club, the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), the Eye Study Club. Locally, he is a member of the Maryland Ophthalmological Society.

Dr. Stark's practice at The Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins provides state-of-the-art patient care, including use of the IntraLase system for "All-Laser" or "Bladeless" LASIK, Wavefront Based ("Custom") LASIK and PRK, and the iLASIK procedure, which includes WaveScan Technology, IntraLase, and Visx Advanced CustomVue treatments. Dr. Stark treats a full range of vision problems including nearsightedness (myopia), farsightedness (hyperopia), astigmatism (blurred vision), and presbyopia. Dr. Stark offers not just LASIK and PRK (laser eye surgery procedures), but other procedures like RLE/CLE (lens implants), phakic implants, limbal relaxing incisions, and cataract lens implants procedures to ensure patients have a complete range of options when it comes to choosing the right procedure to improve their vision. Other eye doctors and eye surgeons commonly seek Dr. Stark to perform their LASIK or other refractive surgery procedure. In addition, new patients who have suffered problems from a LASIK eye surgery or another vision correction procedure performed by another surgeon regularly seek Dr. Stark to manage and treat their problems.

Dr. Stark's most treasured honor was the dedication of the Walter J. Stark, M.D. and Margaret C. Mosher Center for Cataract and Corneal Diseases. Margaret Mosher, his long-time patient and friend, made the Center possible through her generous donation. In addition, he has been recognized as one of Baltimore's "Top Doctors" by Baltimore magazine and one of Washington D.C. "Top Doctors" by Washingtonian magazine.

"Dr. Stark was among the first group of refractive eye surgeons in the world to perform Excimer laser surgery when he was the principle investigator for the VISX FDA Phototherapeutic study in the early 1990's," said James J. Salz, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Trusted LASIK Surgeons. "He has made major contributions to the field of Excimer laser surgery and cataract surgery techniques through hundreds publications and lectures throughout the world. We are honored to have him as a member of the Trusted Lasik Surgeons Directory."

"Providing safe and effective refractive surgery is our goal. We are more conservative than many refractive surgeons and, therefore, will not offer you the surgery if you are not a good candidate," said Walter Stark, M.D. Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology and Director of the Stark-Mosher Center for Cataract and Corneal Diseases of The Wilmer Eye Institute at The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions.

Visit Baltimore, Maryland LASIK Surgeon Walter J. Stark, M.D. profile page at Trusted LASIK Surgeons (http://www.trustedlasiksurgeons.com/baltimore_lasik_surgeon_walter_stark_md.htm)

To learn more about Dr. Stark's refractive surgery practice, please visit Baltimore, MD, LASIK eye surgeon Walter J. Stark, M.D. at Wilmer Eye Institute (http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/wilmer/employees/cvs/Stark.html)

For more on why consumers should consider surgeons listed in the Trusted LASIK Surgeons directory for their vision correction needs, please visit: Why choose a Surgeons from the Trusted LASIK Surgeon's Directory (http://www.trustedlasiksurgeons.com/why_use_a_trusted_lasik_surgeon.htm)

The screening process and standards used by Trusted LASIK Surgeons are located at How Are LASIK Surgeons Qualified at Trusted LASIK Surgeons? (http://www.trustedlasiksurgeons.com/how_are_lasik_surgeons_qualified_at_tls.htm)

To find a highly accomplished LASIK and refractive specialist in your local area who has been qualified and listed in the Trusted LASIK Surgeons directory, please visit Trusted LASIK Surgeons Directory (http://www.trustedlasiksurgeons.com/find_a_lasik_eye_surgeon.htm)

SOURCE: Trusted LASIK Surgeons

About Trusted LASIK Surgeons, Inc.

Trusted LASIK Surgeons, Inc. (Trusted LASIK Surgeons) is a premier LASIK, laser eye surgery, and refractive eye surgery directory service whose primary mission is to assist consumers in finding the best and most qualified LASIK and vision correction surgeons in their local area in the United States. To accomplish this, Trusted LASIK Surgeons uses a unique screening process where each prospective LASIK eye surgeon must meet the minimum required qualifications set by Trusted LASIK Surgeons. These qualifications for these doctors are based on experience (not just in LASIK but complete refractive care), research (including FDA approval studies for manufacturers and academic appointments at major universities), publications and lectures (to their peers, not to the public via infomercials) and patient care standards (treating other eye professionals and managing complications from patients first operated on by someone else). All refractive eye surgeons listed at Trusted LASIK Surgeons have qualified, been accepted, and have subscribed to our services. For more information on why we believe consumers interested in LASIK should consider an eye surgeon listed in the Trusted LASIK Surgeon's directory, please visit our website at www.TrustedLASIKSurgeons.com.

Trusted LASIK Surgeons, Inc.

(800) 483-8028

The Wilmer Laser Vision Center

The Wilmer Eye Institute has been performing laser vision correction since the early 1990's and has performed thousands of surgeries to date. Our facilities are state-of-the-art with the most technically advanced equipment designed to make your procedure as safe and efficient as possible. The Wilmer Laser Vision Center utilizes the iLASIK system which includes the VISX WaveScan Wavefront(tm) System, IntraLase FS(tm) Femtosecond Laser, and the VISX STAR S4 IR(tm) Excimer Laser for our laser vision correction procedures. Our laser vision correction surgeons are members of the Trusted LASIK Surgeons Directory. The Wilmer Eye Institute is repeatedly ranked as the top eye care center in the nation in surveys by U.S. News & World Report and Ophthalmology Times. The Wilmer Eye Institute has been a leader in laser vision care and has developed some of the earliest lasers for vision care and pioneered laser removal of corneal scars and laser treatment for corneal diseases. The Wilmer Eye Institute participated in the first clinical trials of laser correction for nearsightedness, farsightedness and wavefront technology and continues to participate in clinical trials for approvals of new advanced excimer laser software and technology. Wilmer is helping to develop the next generation of laser vision correction procedures. The laser surgeons at The Wilmer Laser Vision Center are full-time faculty members of The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Wilmer Eye Institute and are highly trained cornea experts who can help you to understand laser vision correction and its impact on your long-term vision health. The Wilmer Eye Institute trains more eye experts, are entrusted to perform more eye research than any other center and have contributed to amazing advances in eye care. For more information about the Wilmer Laser Vision Center, please visit: www.hopkinsmedicine.org/wilmer/lasik.

The Wilmer Laser Vision Center at Green Spring Station

10753 Falls Road, Pavilion II, Suite 455

Lutherville, MD 21093

phone: 410-583-2802

fax: 410-583-2842

The Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute

The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

600 N. Wolfe Street

Baltimore, MD, 21287

phone: (410) 955-5490

fax: (410) 614-9172

About Wilmer Eye Institute

The Wilmer Eye Institute has long been recognized for bringing together ophthalmologists consistently ranked by their peers as among the finest internationally, with a specially trained and highly experienced team of nurses cited by patients for their knowledge, responsiveness, and sensitivity. Working together, they have established and refined a flexible approach for delivering state-of-the-art ophthalmic care - and created the Wilmer Eye Care Pavilion as the optimal setting for that approach. We welcome you to visit us. For more information about the Wilmer Eye Institute, please visit: www.hopkinsmedicine.org/wilmer.

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Contact Information James J. Salz, M.D.

Trusted LASIK Surgeons, Inc.

http://www.TrustedLASIKSurgeons.com

+1 (800) 483-8028

Online Marketing Dept.

LanceThink Media

http://www.LanceThinkMedia.com

+1 (800) 846-6208

Landmark Trial Provides Vital Information for Cardiac Disease Treatment

Landmark Trial Provides Vital Information for Cardiac Disease Treatment

NorthShore University HealthSystem Ted Feldman, M.D., Lead Investigator

Evanston, IL. -- NorthShore University HealthSystem (http://www.northshore.org/) (NorthShore) has played a leading role in a landmark clinical trial comparing two forms of treatment for patients with severe coronary artery disease (CAD). The results were published on-line in this week's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The SYNTAX trial was a clinical research study that compared percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stents and coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) in patients with three-vessel and left main coronary disease. The trial results did not show any statistically significant differences between PCI and CABG in rates of death or heart attack, an excess of stroke in the CABG treated patients, and a greater need for repeat PCI procedures in the stent treated patients. These are better outcomes for PCI than have been seen in prior trials in less complex patients.

"At NorthShore, we experienced stunning outcomes in patients whose only option would have previously been bypass surgery," said Ted Feldman, M.D, F.S.C.A.I., Director of Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, NorthShore University HealthSystem, and a lead investigator of the trial. "The data in this study will provide cardiologists with additional information as they determine treatment therapy for patients with complex CAD."

The trial is the first randomized, controlled clinical trial to compare these two treatments in patients with left main disease and/or three-vessel disease, who are typically treated with CABG and represent a population with far more complex anatomy and advanced disease than those studied in prior drug-eluting stent (DES) clinical trials.

There were 1,800 patients enrolled in the randomized arm of the trial. All patients were assessed by a multidisciplinary team including an interventional cardiologist and a cardiac surgeon. If both the cardiologist and surgeon felt that they could offer equivalent complete revascularization, patients were randomized 1:1 into one of the two treatment strategies. If either the cardiologist or surgeon felt that one or the other revascularization technique was the preferred option, due to technical considerations or co-morbidity, for example, then patients were recruited into one of two parallel, nested registries for PCI or CABG. Thus, patients in the PCI registry had been rejected for cardiac surgery.

About NorthShore University HealthSystem

Headquartered in Evanston, Ill., NorthShore University HealthSystem (NorthShore) is a comprehensive, fully integrated, healthcare delivery system that serves the greater North Shore and northern Illinois communities. The system includes three Hospitals--Evanston Hospital, Glenbrook Hospital and Highland Park Hospital--and a fourth, Skokie-based Rush North Shore Hospital, to be added in January 2009. In addition, the healthsystem has more than 2,000 affiliated physicians, including a 550-physician, multispecialty physician group practice with over 70 office locations-- NorthShore University HealthSystem Medical Group. Further, NorthShore is committed to excellence in its academic mission and supports teaching and research as the principal teaching affiliate of the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Medicine. The NorthShore University HealthSystem Research Institute, with more than $100 million of grants, focuses on clinical and translational research, including leadership in outcomes research and clinical trials.

NorthShore has annual revenues of $1.5 billion and a staff of more than 8,000. The healthsystem has significant capabilities in a wide spectrum of clinical programs, including cancer, heart, orthopaedics, high-risk maternity and pediatrics. NorthShore is a national leader in the implementation of innovative technologies, including electronic medical records, (EMR ). In 2003, the healthsystem was among the first in the country to successfully launch a systemwide EMR with demonstrable benefits in quality, safety, efficiency and service to patients. NorthShore has been recognized by multiple national organizations for this notable achievement. Visit http://www.northshore.org/

CONTACT: Amy Ferguson

Senior Director, Public Relations

NorthShore University HealthSystem

(847) 570-3146

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Contact Information Amy Ferguson

Northshore University HealthSystem

http://www.northshore.org/

847-570-3146

Tekscan Announces High-Temp Force Sensors

Tekscan Announces High-Temp Force Sensors

Tekscan, Inc., leading manufacturer of force and pressure measurement sensors, is pleased to announce the release of the new High-Temp FlexiForce® Sensor (Model # HT201). This sensor measures forces in environments as hot as 200° Celsius (400° Fahrenheit).

Boston, MA (PRWEB) February 18, 2009 -- Tekscan, Inc., leading manufacturer of force and pressure measurement sensors, is pleased to announce the release of the new High-Temp FlexiForce® Sensor (Model # HT201), measuring forces in environments as hot as 200° Celsius (400° Fahrenheit).

The ultra-thin, highly-linear (typically +/-1.2%) High-Temp FlexiForce sensors are ideal for non-intrusive force measurement in a variety of processing applications, including injection molding, heat sealing, and heat sink applications. Industries that will benefit from these high-temperature force measurements include automotive, aerospace, pharmaceutical, printing, food and beverage processing, and many more.

Specifically, the sensors are used to:

•Detect and measure a relative change in force or applied load

•Detect and measure the rate of change in force

•Identify force thresholds and trigger appropriate action

•Detect contact and/or touch

The HT201 sensor is available in two force ranges, Low and High:

HT201-L (0-30 lb)

HT201-H (0-100 lb)

Click here for complete high-temp sensor specifications. (http://www.tekscan.com/flexiforce/specs-flexiforce.html)

About Tekscan

Tekscan is a leading manufacturer of thin-film force sensors and complete tactile force and pressure measurement systems. Accurate, simple-to-use, and cost-effective, Tekscan's sensors have been integrated into a variety of successful OEM products. Measuring both static and dynamic pressure events, Tekscan's products provide concrete data for making crucial assessments in industrial, medical, dental, and retail applications. Products range from simple force sensors and force sensing systems to intricate pressure measurement systems with over 100,000 sensing points. Contact Tekscan today (http://www.tekscan.com/contact.html) to discuss your application or to place an order.

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Contact Information Liz Hood

Tekscan, Inc.

http://www.tekscan.com

617.464.4500

Statins Pay Off on a Health-Policy Level, UCSF Study Finds

Statins Pay Off on a Health-Policy Level, UCSF Study Finds

Current guidelines for when to prescribe popular cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins would produce cost-effective results and would save thousands of lives every year if they were followed more closely by physicians and patients, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.

(Vocus) February 17, 2009 -- Current guidelines for when to prescribe popular cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins would produce cost-effective results and would save thousands of lives every year if they were followed more closely by physicians and patients, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.

The authors used a cost-effectiveness model called the Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) Policy Model to assess the incremental cost-effectiveness over a 30-year period of lowering low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol with statins in persons who have not previously had a heart attack (http://cardiology.ucsf.edu).

Findings are published in the February 17 issue of the "Annals of Internal Medicine," the official journal of the American College of Physicians. The paper is accompanied by a supporting editorial that cites both the importance of the study and the importance of cost-effectiveness analysis, in general, as a method for comparing strategies to improve health.

The study found that adherence to the 2001 recommendations from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) would be a cost-effective way to prevent and manage coronary heart disease in this country.

Full adherence with the guidelines would prevent 20,000 heart attacks and 10,000 CHD deaths every year, according to Mark Pletcher, MD, MPH, a professor in the UCSF Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics (www.epibiostat.ucsf.edu), who led the study. Although full adherence would require starting millions of Americans on statins, at a cost of $3.6 billion per year, the health payoff is large enough to justify the cost by current standards, he said.

"We weren't sure that NCEP guidelines, which are relatively aggressive in terms of recommending statins, would be the best approach," Pletcher said. "When we did the math, though, it turns out they are pretty reasonable in terms of health payoff, and are more efficient than some of the alternatives we tested."

The study also demonstrated how important the cost of statins is in the calculations. Pletcher said that when the price of statins falls below about 50 cents per pill, the NCEP guidelines prevent enough heart attacks and save enough in hospital bills to make up the cost of the statin pills.

"As more and more people have access to generic statins at very low prices, statins will start paying for themselves," Pletcher said. "And when per-pill costs are very low, it may actually make sense to prescribe them even more broadly than is recommended in the NCEP guidelines."

Previous studies have shown that statin therapy is generally cost-effective for secondary prevention and for high-risk primary prevention of heart disease in specific scenarios, but have not previously analyzed the full impact or cost-effectiveness of NCEP guidelines, nor compared them to alternatives.

The CHD Policy Model used in this study was developed in the 1980's by Lee Goldman, MD, a co-author on the study. The model uses a wide range of national coronary heart disease data, including results from the 52-year Framingham Heart Study, to model cardiovascular disease events and prevention interventions in the U.S. population. The researchers sought to estimate the cost-effectiveness of the NCEP guidelines and compare them against alternative strategies, in which statin treatment might be based entirely on age or an assessment of 10-year CHD risk.

The projections were applied to US patients age 35 to 85 years old over the next three decades and results were compared against the prospects of retaining current levels of treatment and the "cost" of early death or chronic care among untreated patients.

"Policymakers in the United States need some basic principles to guide the nation's health care spending, which is excessive by many measures," wrote John B. Wong, MD, from the Tufts University School of Medicine, in the accompanying editorial. "The current fiscal crisis requires much greater attention to health care costs. Perhaps it will be the stimulus for the United States to adopt cost-effectiveness as a guiding principle for allocating resources within health care and between health care and other needs."

Funding of the research came from the Flight Attendants' Medical Research Institute and a grant from the Swanson Family Fund to UCSF. The Framingham Heart Study and Framingham Offspring Study are conducted and supported by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, in collaboration with both studies' investigators.

The senior investigator on the study is Lee Goldman, MD, MPH, of Columbia University Medical Center. Co-authors are Andrew Moran, MD, MPH, Columbia University; Kirsten Bibbings-Domingo, MD, PhD, UCSF; Pamela Coxson, PhD, UCSF and San Francisco General Hospital; James Lightwood, PhD, UCSF; Nicolas Rodondi, MD, MAS, University of Lausanne, Switzerland; Lawrence Williams, MSC, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, and Lawrence Lazar, MD, Cleveland Clinic.

Rodondi has consulted for Pfizer Inc and has accepted honoraria from Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Merck and Schering Plough. The authors report no other potential financial conflicts of interest.

UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. For further information, visit http://www.ucsf.edu.

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Contact Information Kristen Bole

http://www.ucsf.edu

415-476-2557