The important work of Akira Endo has been compared to the discovery of penicillin.
Motivated by Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin, the biochemist is said to have studied mold, or fungi, in his quest for new drugs.
Prof. Endo made the first cholesterol-lowering discovery that could reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes in 1973.
The chief scientific and medical officer at the British Heart Foundation, Prof. Bryan Williams, paid tribute to the professor, calling him “a remarkable scientist.”.
He told News, “They have absolutely transformed the prevention of heart disease and stroke.” “This really was the forerunner to the development of statin drugs.”
“There’s very few treatments in medicine that have happened in the past few years that have had such a dramatic impact.”
However, unlike Dr. Fleming, the professor was not awarded a Nobel prize for his discovery.
“Amazingly, the man who began the process of working out how to deal with the problem of cholesterol – and provided a treatment that benefited and saved the lives of many, many millions of people never got the prize,” said Professor Williams.
“I think that’s a shame.”
Statins are increasingly frequently prescribed by doctors to patients who have experienced a heart attack and those who are i8n it.
