Rosuvastatin: The Most Efficient Treatment Option For Patients With Dyslipidemia

It has been unequivocally proven that lowering serum cholesterol reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. For every 1% reduction in serum total cholesterol, the risk of coronary heart disease is lowered by 2%, and with a 1 mmol/l reduction in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), the 5-year incidence of major coronary events, coronary revascularization and stroke, is reduced by approximately one fifth. The risk of cardiovascular disease increases linearly with increasing serum cholesterol. Thus, people with high cholesterol levels have the highest risk, but in any population the largest number of cardiovascular events and deaths will occur in people whose serum cholesterol is only marginally elevated, as they form the largest pool of the background population. Unfortunately, a significant number of patients requiring lipid-modifying therapy remain untreated or suboptimally treated, with almost half failing to reach current guideline targets for LDL-C, and therefore remaining at unacceptably high risk of a cardiovascular event, such as a myocardial infarction or stroke, despite receiving medical treatment. This is partly due to noncompliance or ineffective use of cholesterol-lowering therapy. Consequently, there remains a need for an effective, well-tolerated agent or combination of such agents that can produce beneficial changes in the atherogenic lipid profile and enable the majority of patients requiring lipid-lowering therapy to reach their recommended LDL-C goals. Among the statins, rosuvastatin monotherapy has been shown to have superior efficacy in reducing LDL-C across its licensed dose range. At daily doses of 5–40 mg, rosuvastatin produces mean reductions in plasma LDL-C of 45–63%, achieves LDL-C goals in 48–89% of patients, and is more effective than equivalent and maximum doses of atorvastatin, simvastatin and pravastatin. This means that fewer patients treated with rosuvastatin will require other cholesterol-lowering agents, leading to lower treatment cost. Rosuvastatin also improves high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglyceride and lipid ratios, such as LDL-C:HDL-C ratio. Furthermore, a recent study showed that significant regression of atherosclerosis can be achieved with intensive statin therapy using rosuvastatin 40 mg. The safety and tolerability of rosuvastatin is similar to other marketed statins. Rosuvastatin as a single therapy is a valuable option and, thus far, the most efficient treatment for a broad spectrum of patients with dyslipidemia. In particular, the overall lipid profile, including HDL-C and triglycerides, in patients with Type 2 diabetes or the metabolic syndrome is markedly improved with rosuvastatin therapy.