A class of drugs used to reduce inflammation can lower the risk of recurrent heart attacks, strokes and lung cancer, study claims. The drug canakinumab can cut expensive interventions, such as bypass surgery, by more than 30 per cent.
In a trial lasting 25 years, scientists from the Brigham in the US tested whether reducing inflammation among people who have had a prior heart attack can reduce the risk of another cardiovascular event in the future.They enrolled over 10,000 patients who previously had a heart attack and had persistent, elevated levels of high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), a marker of inflammation. All patients in the trial received aggressive standard care, which included high doses of cholesterol-lowering statins.In addition, participants were randomised to receive 50, 150, or 300 milligrams (mg) of canakinumab (or a placebo for the control group), injected…
