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Background. The lowering of cholesterol concentrations in individuals at high risk for cardiovascular disease improves clinical outcome. Xuezhikang has a marked impact on lipids. Methods. In this randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, parallel-group clinical trial, a total of 2704 hypertensive patients with previous myocardial infarction (MI) were assigned either to placebo ( n = 1341) or to Xuezhikang (0.6 g twice daily, n = 1363) for an average of 4.5 years. The primary end-point was recurrent coronary events; the secondary end-point was all-cause mortality and other clinical events, including adverse effects. Results. There were no differences between the Xuezhikang and placebo group in base-line characteristics. However, Xuezhikang treatment reduced the incidence of coronary events by 43.0% ( P = 0.02), deaths from coronary heart disease (CHD) by 30.0% ( P < 0.01), and all-cause mortality by 35.8% ( P = 0.001). Conclusions. This study, for the first time, demonstrated that long-term Xuezhikang therapy resulted in significant reduction in cardiovascular events and death in Chinese hypertensive patients with previous MI in a safe manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers a summary of the status of the research on clinical application of Xuezhikang (XZK) Capsule, a blood lipid regulator made of special refined red yeast. It discusses the effects of XZK in regulating blood lipids, on coronary heart disease secondary prevention, on fatty liver and on patients with nephrotic syndrome or chronic renal failure.