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Hundreds of thousands of people will receive cholesterol-lowering jabs from their GP twice a year as an alternative to statins, it was announced today.
The ‘game-changing’ treatment, called inclisiran, is now rolled out on the NHS after it was approved by the UK’s medical watchdog.
The drug cuts levels of ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol – a fatty substance which collects in blood vessels – by about 50 per cent, making it as effective as high-dose statins. It is delivered by injection once every six months, saving patients the need to take daily statin tablets.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has initially approved the jab only for patients with high cholesterol who already have heart disease or have had a heart attack or stroke – about 300,000 in total.
Hundreds of thousands of people will receive cholesterol-lowering jabs from their GP twice a year as an alternative to statins, it was announced today (stock image)
Experts claimed it will save around 30,000 lives and prevent 55,000 heart attacks and strokes within the next decade.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the ‘life-saving’ treatment was a ‘huge step forward in tackling the scourge of heart disease’. Patients will be injected by nurses at GP surgeries across England, with a second dose three months later and then injections twice a year. Inclisiran is more effective if taken alongside statins – but it can be used on its own for those who do not tolerate the pills.
Research is ongoing to see if the
