Study spells much needed relief for kidney patients.

Around a quarter of all heart attacks, strokes, and operations to open blocked arteries could be avoided in people with chronic kidney disease by using the combination of ezetimibe and simvastatin to lower blood cholesterol levels. That's the conclusion from the world's largest ever randomised trial in kidney disease. The Study of Heart and Renal Protection (SHARP) involved almost 9500 volunteers aged 40 or over with chronic kidney disease recruited from 380 hospitals in 18 countries. More than 2000 were recruited from 64 sites in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Thailand. Patients...