statins

Statin Study: Big Crestor News About Not Much

Armen Hareyan — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:53:10 -0600

Did you read about the revolutionary study of the statin drug, Crestor? A story in the LA Times (reprinted in the Star Tribune) was almost breathless in its praise:

Use Of Statins And Outcomes After Hospitalization With Pneumonia

Armen Hareyan — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 06:12:52 -0500

A new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine shows that Statins, which are used to lower cholesterol, can also reduce the risk of dying from pneumonia infection.

Cholesterol-lowering drugs, effect on muscle repair, regeneration

harminka — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:47:56 -0500

Statins are powerful drugs that reduce "bad" cholesterol and thus cut the risk of a heart attack. While these medications offer tremendous benefits to millions, they can carry side effects for some. The most frequently reported consequence is fatigue, and about nine percent of patients report statin-related pain.

Statins may protect against memory loss

harminka — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 08:34:22 -0500

People at high risk for dementia who took cholesterol-lowering statins are half as likely to develop dementia as those who do not take statins, a new study shows.

Statins may protect against memory loss

harminka — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 08:01:53 -0500

Commonly used cholesterol-fighting drugs called statins may protect against dementia and memory loss, according to a study published in the July 29, 2008, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Statins have unexpected effect on pool of powerful brain cells

harminka — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:19:47 -0500

Cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins have a profound effect on an elite group of cells important to brain health as we age, scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center have found. The new findings shed light on a long-debated potential role for statins in the area of dementia.

Statins may help reduce blood pressure

harminka — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 13:05:36 -0500

The medications known as statins, typically prescribed to lower blood cholesterol levels, may also modestly reduce blood pressure, according to a report in the April 14 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Women are treated less frequently than men with statins, aspirin

harminka — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 12:17:53 -0600

Women and men experience a similar prevalence of adverse drug reactions in the treatment of coronary artery disease; however, women are significantly less likely than their male counterparts to be treated with statins, aspirin, and beta-blockers according to a new study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center.

Patients stoping statins use after stroke increase risk of death

harminka — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 04:59:27 -0500

Patients who stop taking cholesterol-lowering drugs within a year of surviving a stroke had a two-fold increased risk of death, researchers reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

No evidence that statins protect against prostate cancer

harminka — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 01:31:57 -0500

A large community-based study refutes previous findings that statins – a top-selling drug class, worldwide -- might cut one’s risk of developing prostate cancer by reducing production of the male hormones that fuel cancer growth.

Statin reduces Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease risk

harminka — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 10:33:39 -0500

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have found that the statin, simvastatin, reduces the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease by almost 50 percent. This is the first study to suggest that statins might reduce the incidence of Parkinson’s disease. These findings, will be published in the July online open access journal BioMed Central (BMC) Medicine.

Could statins be a new option for hepatitis C patients?

harminka — Mon, 21 May 2007 05:52:06 -0500

Researchers have yet to report on the concept that hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients who take statins may experience improvements in alanine transaminase (ALT, liver enzymes) levels. Use of statins for hepatitis C has not occurred in the past as the FDA-approved package insert for every statin lists "active liver disease" as a contraindication for use and hepatitis C would certainly qualify as an active liver disease.