FDA approves new kind of cholesterol pill

JumpCrisscross

“Proprotein convertases (PPCs) are a family of proteins that activate other proteins. Many proteins are inactive when they are first synthesized, because they contain chains of amino acids that block their activity. Proprotein convertases remove those chains and activate the protein” [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprotein_convertase

JoshGlazebrook

Next up is the lp(a) lowering drugs still in trials.

derektank

Not really a new kind of pharmaceutical, pcsk9 inhibitors have been on the market for a while now. What’s new is that it’s an oral medication rather than an injectable

marcosfelt

There's a nice writeup by Derek Lowe on the synthesis of this molecule: https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/futuristic-synthes... It's quite a beast!

hankbond

What is the current state of understanding on high cholesterol as a leading or trailing indicator of poor health? I vaguely remember reading one theory that cholesterol was used by the body to mitigate arterial damage from other causes?

mediumsmart

One could eat healthy instead of course but hey, the good life .

hmontazeri

Just do fasting and lose weight. Had high cholesterol and did that lost 20 pounds and my cholesterol went back to normal without any medical intervention