Aggressive Cholesterol, Blood Pressure Treatment Shows Some Benefit

A new study at the Medstar Research Institute in Maryland that weighed whether aggressively lowering cholesterol levels and blood pressure in people at high risk of heart disease is worth the effort did not produce a definitive answer to the question.

The research, which involved 499 American Indians with diabetes, found the strategy led to some improvements without producing dangerous side effects, said Barbara V. Howard, lead author of the report in the April 9 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.