[The treatment of atherosclerosis--drug therapy]

Drug treatment against atherosclerosis has been evaluated recently in many epidemiological studies. Lipid Research Clinics Group convincingly reported in a large scale design that anion exchange resin effectively reduced blood cholesterol level and concomitantly decreased the events of coronary heart disease. Subsequently, anion exchange resin with or without combined administration of niacin or statin was found to inhibit the progression of coronary atherosclerotic lesions in FATS, SCOR, CLAS and STARS. Fenofibrate also successfully reduced the coronary artery narrowings. Based on these intervention studies, several hypocholesterolemic agents are definitely effective in the treatment of coronary atherosclerosis.