Vytorin: Science Vs. Hype
If one cholesterol-lowering drug is good, two must be better. That was the thinking behind Vytorin, a combination of Merck's Zocor and Schering-Plough's Zetia. Not so, it turns out. A study of 750 patients showed that while the combination did lower bad cholesterol, or LDL, it did little more to reduce the dangerous buildup of plaque than Zocor alone did — which costs far less than the combination drug Vytorin.
Vytorin：科学 Vs. 骗局
若一种降脂药疗效显著，那么两种药物复合效果一定更佳。这就是Vytorin（默克公司的舒降之加先灵葆雅的依折麦布（Zetia）的复合制剂）的设想。但是事实证明并非如此。对750名患者进行研究，结果显示，虽然该复合制剂确能降低低密度脂蛋白，但在降低斑块形成方面与单独使用舒降之的效果相差无几，而Vytorin的价格却远高过舒降之。（ginnyran编译）
ZZZ: Don't Let This Keep You Up
Troubled sleep can cause problems for anyone, but for women, the consequences may be even more dire. In a study of 210 men and women, Duke University researcher Dr. Edward Suarez found that women who slept poorly had elevated levels of several risk factors for heart disease and diabetes — including cholesterol, insulin, glucose, inflammatory proteins and the clotting agent fibrinogen — but men who tossed and turned did not. The reason may have something to do with testosterone. Men who reported the most difficulty sleeping also had the highest levels of testosterone, which is known to reduce concentrations of heart-damaging inflammatory proteins. It's not certain if testosterone somehow contributes to the sleeplessness or if it's somehow released protectively in men who don't get enough z's. No matter such details; for both sexes, better sleep will almost always mean better health.
保持良好睡眠
对每个人而言，睡眠不好都会带来一些问题，不过对女性来说，睡眠不好带来的危害可能更严重。杜克大学（Duke University ）的研究人员爱德华.苏雷兹博士（Dr. Edward Suarez）对210名男女进行了一项试验，结果发现睡眠差的女性，数项心脏疾病和糖尿病风险因子（包括胆固醇、胰岛素、血糖、炎症蛋白和凝血因子纤维蛋白原）指标都会升高，而失眠男性却没有这些情况。这可能与睾酮有关。失眠最严重的男性同时睾酮水平也最高，而睾酮可以减少损伤心脏的炎症蛋白的聚集。睾酮是否会导致失眠以及睾酮是否对失眠男性提供某种保护机制尚不明确。抛开这些细节；不管是对于男性还是女性，良好的睡眠通常都意味着良好的健康。
