The UAE has approved the use of a daily pill to treat high cholesterol, a silent killer putting millions at heightened risk of heart disease and strokes around the world.<\/p>\n
Lipfendra, developed by US pharmaceutical company Merck, was found to significantly reduce levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in clinical trials.<\/p>\n
It was authorised by the US Food and Drug Administration last month, with the Emirates becoming only the second country in the world to give it the green light.<\/p>\n
The Emirates Drug Establishment said the drug would be permitted to be used by adult patients as part of a treatment plan determined by a healthcare professional. Its cost was not disclosed. <\/p>\n
The EDE said the oral medication, taken once daily, worked to lower LDL \u2013 known as \u201cbad cholesterol\u201d \u2013 alongside a balanced diet and exercise.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe medicine also expands treatment options for adults whose condition requires additional intervention alongside a healthy lifestyle, in line with evidence-based medical practice, while supporting improvements in the quality of pharmaceutical care,\u201d the EDE said.<\/p>\n
The initial FDA approval followed two clinical trials which showed the drug reduced LDL cholesterol by up to 59 per cent after 24 weeks of use.<\/p>\n
What is cholesterol?<\/p>\n
Cholesterol is a waxy substance found in the blood, which is essential in allowing the human body to build healthy cells.<\/p>\n
High levels of cholesterol, however, can raise the risk of heart disease and other health conditions.<\/p>\n
High cholesterol can cause fats and other substances to clog up the arteries, making it hard for enough blood to flow.<\/p>\n
It can cause blood clots and lead to a heart attack or stroke. <\/p>\n
High cholesterol can be inherited but often results from poor lifestyle choices, such as not getting enough exercise, an unbalanced diet and consuming large amounts of saturated fat.<\/p>\n
Hidden danger<\/p>\n
The National reported last week on the stark findings of the latest Global Burden of Disease Study, which showed that LDL cholesterol was linked to 3.6 million deaths in 2023.<\/p>\n
It is now thought to be responsible for a third of all heart disease deaths and a quarter of all stroke deaths worldwide.<\/p>\n
High cholesterol has no symptoms, promoting health experts to label it as a silent killer. <\/p>\n
But cholesterol levels can be measured through a simple blood test called a lipid profile at most clinics or pharmacies.<\/p>\n
Safe cholesterol levels for most healthy adults are below 200 milligrams per decilitre of blood, with bad LDL cholesterol below 100 milligrams per decilitre and good HDL cholesterol 40\u201350mg\/dl or above.<\/p>\n
Every adult should have their cholesterol checked at least once a year as part of a routine health assessment, even if they feel healthy.<\/p>\n
The EDE urged the public, particularly those with high cholesterol, to maintain healthy lifestyles that include good diets and regular physical activity.<\/p>\n
It stressed that people should consult a healthcare professional to assess their condition and determine the most appropriate treatment.<\/p>\n
Latest drug approval<\/p>\n
The EDE has authorised the use of a number of drugs in the country in recent months as part of a drive to improve patient outcomes and expand treatment options.<\/p>\n
In December it approved Itvisma, a gene therapy developed by Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis, to advance the treatment of adults and children with spinal muscular atrophy<\/a>.<\/p>\n The following month, the EDE authorised the use of Inpefa (sotagliflozin), a treatment shown in clinical trials to reduce deaths linked to cardiovascular disease as well as hospital admissions and urgent medical visits for heart failure<\/a>.<\/p>\n In April, the UAE became only the second country in the world to approve the use of a daily weight loss<\/a> pill, in what was hailed as a boost to the fight against obesity<\/a>.<\/p>\n Orforglipron, developed by US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, was made available to eligible patients in the Emirates from under the brand name Foundayo.<\/p>\n In June, the EDE was one of the first regulators to give the go-ahead to AstraZeneca’s Etcamah, which is aimed at patients who have particular types of advanced breast cancer, which can lead to the development of a genetic mutation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The UAE has approved the use of a daily pill to treat high cholesterol, a silent killer putting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":801309,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[97,243,615,13546,66904],"class_list":["post-801308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-health","tag-medication","tag-standard","tag-story","tag-uae-desk-team"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=801308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801308\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/801309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}