A research done by the Chinese University of Hong Kong found a new therapy for ischaemic heart disease, according to the university's press release on Friday.

Ischaemic heart disease is caused by atherosclerosis of the vessels in the body, a disease process characterized by the thickening of the arteries with deposition of plaques inside the wall of the vessel. One of the main targets of treatment in patients with ischaemic heart disease is to limit the amount of atherosclerotic plaque formation in the arteries.

For the past 10 years the Division of Cardiology of the university has been in the forefront of research and new therapies for ischaemic heart disease. One of the new treatment strategies is the use of drugs that limits atherosclerotic plaque formation in the artery. A recent study found that this can be achieved by the use of high dose statin, a cholesterol-lowering drug, therapy.

Studies results show that the new therapy not only prevents atherosclerotic plaque formation in the major artery, but is able to significantly regress the plaque thickness by nearly 10 percent.

Recently, the benefit of high dose statin therapy was also confirmed by an international multicenter trial which was announced in the American College of Cardiology annual scientific meeting in March 2005.

According to the university, ischaemic heart disease is the second top killer in Hong Kong, just after cancer. Every year about 4,000 people died from this disease in Hong Kong.

(Xinhua News Agency April 22, 2005)