Super Statins, Fabulous Fibrates

A huge study focusing on the benefits of lipid-lowering medications revealed good news for HIVers: Statin drugs, like Lipitor and Zocor, and especially fibrate medications, like Lopid and Tricor, are useful in lowering cholesterol and triglyceride levels -- and consequently cutting cardiac disease risks -- among HIV-positive adults. 'The good news is lipid-lowering therapy in HIV patients works; not quite as well as it does in patients without HIV, but close. This should be encouraging for patients and their providers,' says lead study author Michael Silverberg, Ph.D., who reported the data in the March 3 online issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.