著者
Akira ENDO
出版者
The Japan Academy
雑誌
Proceedings of the Japan Academy, Series B (ISSN:03862208)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.86, no.5, pp.484-493, 2010-05-11 (Released:2010-05-12)
参考文献数
82
被引用文献数
253 344

Cholesterol is essential for the functioning of all human organs, but it is nevertheless the cause of coronary heart disease. Over the course of nearly a century of investigation, scientists have developed several lines of evidence that establish the causal connection between blood cholesterol, atherosclerosis, and coronary heart disease. Building on that knowledge, scientists and the pharmaceutical industry have successfully developed a remarkably effective class of drugs—the statins—that lower cholesterol levels in blood and reduce the frequency of heart attacks.(Communicated by Teruhiko BEPPU, M.J.A.)