Test results: Pravacol vs Lipitor

[JacquelineL]

I just read an article in today's LA Times about test results on adults with LDL over 125 using either 40 mg Pravacol or 80mg Lipitor--that's a pretty high dose. The Lipitor did a considerably better job of both lowering cholesterol and controlling insidious buildup of plaque inside arteries when given to people with heart disease.

After 18 months, average LDL was 110 in the Pravacol group and 79 in those on Lipitor.

I wonder what this means for Zocor. I am taking 40mg now.

Guiidelines recommend getting LDL down to 100. This test lowered the target to 80 and think that lower is better--it can't be too low.

[ARIZONA73]

I don't know where Pfizer thinks they're going with this, but it sounds to me like more rampant propaganda aimed at bolstering sales of their product. There's no question that this was a slanted study, sponsored by Phizer, in order to promote the sale of their product, Lipitor.

The reason why it was so obviously biased is because they chose to evaluate the effects of 40mg Pravachol versus 80mg Lipitor. Not only that, but there's something else to consider. A 10mg dose of Lipitor is about as powerful as 20mg Zocor, 40mg Pravachol, or 80mg Lescol. So, they were running side by side comparisons using a dosage of Lipitor that was 8 times the potency of Pravachol. Not a very fair comparison, is it? Why didn't Pfizer just compare 10mg Lipitor with 80mg Lipitor? Maybe Bristol-Myers Squibb can conduct their own study comparing 320mg Pravachol versus 10mg Lipitor.

So what's next? As if we don't already have enough trouble with people taking high doses of these drugs, will Pfizer now recommend that doctors prescribe 80mg doses for their patients? Then we'll likely witness a real medical catastrophe.

I don't exactly buy into all that propaganda about LDL either. I'm far more inclined to agree with Pauling's explanation as to why and how atherosclerosis develops in the first place. Unlike others who simply make a blanket statement which they are unable to explain, Pauling at least backed up his theory by explaining the science behind it. I would put my money on the right supplements and the Pauling regimen any day.

[darock_sayz]

Hello,
Can u explain "right supplements and the Pauling regimen any day" for those of us newbies, perhaps a link to a previous post ?

thanks

[ARIZONA73]

darock,

I would suggest that you just do a search for "Pauling Therapy for Heart Disease." One web page which you may find interesting is the one entitled "Vitamin C, Collagen, and the Pauling Therapy for Heart Disease."