MAY 2017 101
“
The
Micra is
so small
it can rest
inside the
heart.
”
Cholesterol
There is nothing more eagerly awaited in
cardiovascular medicine than the results
from a large clinical trial of a new cholesterol-
lowering treatment.
Called PCSK9 inhibitors, this class of drugs
has been shown in earlier trials to silence the
gene that creates LDL – or “bad” – cholesterol.
The outcome of the large Phase III trial should
be known soon.
Cholesterol-lowering statins, the current
standard-bearer in the fight against heart
disease, have had a bad rap in recent years.
While still regarded as safe and effective,
their adverse side effects (such as muscle
pain and weakness) cause many patients
to discontinue therapy or take less than the
recommended dose.
Experts say PCSK19 inhibitors, while not
without side effects, could be a viable option
for statin-intolerant patients. The FDA last year
approved PCSK19 for high-risk patients, saying
the drugs will likely be used more widely, once
the Phase III trial is completed.
This is good news for New Zealand, where
someone dies from heart disease every
90 minutes.shape, through the deployment of self-
administered HPV tests in Australia.
These tests – which include a test tube, a
swab and a mail-in box – would allow you to
administer the test and process the results at
home, rather than a doctor’s surgery. The tests
could be later introduced in New Zealand.Bioabsorbable stents
More than 170,000 New Zealanders are
living with diagnosed coronary heart disease.
And many of those have metal stents inserted
into their chests to treat coronary artery
blockage. More often than not, the stent
remains there for ever, long after its mission
has been accomplished. The stents can make
some scans and future surgeries tricky and
lead to blood clots.
Yet what if they could just vanish? The first
bioabsorbable stent was approved in the US last
July. Made of a naturally dissolving polymer, it
widens the clogged artery for two years before
it’s absorbed into the body in a manner similar
to dissolvable stitches. Experts assembled by the
Cleveland Clinic are hailing these stents as one
of the top medical breakthroughs of 2017.Mini pacemaker
It took Earl Bakken, founder of US medical
devices company Medtronic, just four weeks
in 1957 to craft the first battery-powered
pacemaker. His design barely changed for 50
years, but last year, Medtronic’s new model,
the Micra, which is one-tenth the size and so
small it can rest inside the heart itself, became
the first of the next generation of pacemakers
to be approved by the FDA. Unlike traditional
pacemakers, which are implanted under the
skin using an invasive procedure, the Micra
is slipped through the femoral artery via the
groin using a catheter and docked inside the
heart’s right ventricle. It operates without
electrical wires that can break or get infected.No more swallowing pills
Many people need to take medication every
day, but find it difficult to swallow. Soon, this
could be a thing of the past. In 2015, the
FDA approved a new type of pill that is
3D-printed and dissolves into liquid as
soon as you take a sip of water. The
pill, epilepsy drug Spritam, hit the US
market last March. Its creators are
looking at other disease areas, so
more rapidly disintegrating drugs
could be coming to a 3D printer
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GETTY IMAGES, ISTOCK AND ALAMY. near you in 2017. AW W