Combination Treatment to Prevent Atherosclerosis

Abstract

To the Editor: Kushiro et al1 demonstrated that, in patients without a history of cardiovascular disease who have hypertension and mildly elevated cholesterol, pravastatin was effective in reducing the incidence of cardiovascular disease. There were no significant differences in mean baseline total cholesterol, blood pressure levels, or variation in blood pressure during the 5-year period between the diet and diet-plus-pravastatin groups. Nonetheless, pravastatin reduced the burden of cardiovascular disease. This finding is consistent with the Conduit Artery Function Evaluation Lipid-Lowering Arm Study,2 demonstrating that atorvastatin therapy sufficient to significantly reduce cardiovascular events …