A first: Drug lowers heart risks by curbing inflammation

A first: Drug lowers heart risks by curbing inflammation:

• People on the drug also had surprisingly lower cancer death rates, especially from lung cancer.
• Doctors say the results on the drug open a new frontier.

"For the first time, a drug has helped prevent heart attacks by curbing inflammation, a new and very different approach than lowering cholesterol, the focus for many years.
People on the drug also had surprisingly lower cancer death rates, especially from lung cancer.
An anti-tumor effect is an exciting possibility, but it needs much more study because the heart experiment wasn't intended to test that.
Doctors say the results on the drug, canakinumab (can-uh-KIN-yoo-mab), open a new frontier.
Many heart attacks occur in people whose cholesterol is normal and whose main risk is chronic inflammation that can lead to clogged arteries.
"We suddenly know we can address the inflammation itself, the same way we learned almost 25 years ago that we could address cholesterol. It's very exciting," said the study's leader, Dr. Paul Ridker of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston..."