In 1971, as medical science was wrestling with the observation that elevation of cholesterol levels was associated with heart attacks, a Japanese chemist named Akira Endo discovered a substance that inhibited the enzyme HMG CoA reductase and thus lowered cholesterol levels. His original chemical was never introduced due to significant muscle toxicity and the fact that it caused tumors, but not long after, a less toxic version was introduced under the brand name Mevacor (Lovastatin.) This drug was significantly more powerful in lowering cholesterol levels than the unpleasant and relatively ineffective drugs that came before. These are still used today, but are difficult to take, including ones that taste like sand and absorb cholesterol from the gut as well as high dose niacin which causes itching, flushing, worsens diabetes and exacerbates gout. Lovastatin could be dosed once daily, was an innocuous capsule, and lowered cholesterol strikingly. Since that time, many more HMG CoA ...
The cost of health care in the US is higher than anywhere else in the world, and yet we are not healthier than our peer nations. In fact, in terms of such measures as infant mortality and life span, we don't measure up. Why is this? Many people involved in providing or receiving care have some pretty good ideas about what costs so much, and what we can do to reduce costs and improve quality. Sharing these stories is an important step in creating affordable universal health care.