Simvastatin in the treatment of hypercholesterolaemia in patients with essential hypertension.

Abstract

Mortality from coronary artery disease is a common problem in treated hypertensive patients, and these people have a high prevalence of elevated cholesterol levels. A study was undertaken to determine whether cholesterol could be lowered effectively without major side effects in patients with treated hypertension. Forty-nine patients (mean age 67.6 years) with cholesterol greater than 5.5 mmol/l were placed on a reduced-fat (less than 30% of calories from fat with a ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fats of less than 1) diet for 3 months. If the cholesterol was between 5.5 and 7.5 mmol/l and total cholesterol divided by high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was greater than 4.5, the patie..