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Statin Meds & Cholesterol: What You Need to Know

Statins have become the miracle medicine of modern heart care, lowering cholesterol levels and and guarding against heart attacks in millions of Americans.

In fact, a running joke among doctors holds that statins are so helpful they should be put in the water supply.

However, they aren’t right for all patients, and some rare side effects can crop up with the meds, said

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • March 5, 2024
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  • Could Inhaling a Statin Help Ease Asthma, COPD?

    Drugs already used by millions to lower cholesterol might someday have a new role: Relieving asthma and COPD.

    That's the hope of a new line of research underway at the University of California, Davis.

    A study funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health is seeking to determine whether a "statin inhaler" might reduce the airway inflammation that makes breathing difficult for folk...

    Statins Might Slow Progression of Alzheimer's Disease

    In preliminary findings, Swedish researchers say taking a cholesterol-lowering statin could also slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

    The study can't prove cause-and-effect, but might pave the way to a trial that could confirm such a link, said study author Sara Garcia-Ptacek, an associate professor of neuroscience at the Ka...

    Taking Statins After 'Bleeding' Stroke Could Help Prevent Another Stroke

    Taking cholesterol-lowering statin medication after a bleeding stroke, or intracerebral hemorrhage, may lower the risk of a subsequent stroke caused by a blood clot, according to new research.

    “Previous research has had mixed results on the risk of stroke in people who are taking statins and have already had a bleeding stroke, so we evaluated this further,” said study a...

    Statins' Effectiveness May Rise With Patient Age: Study

    Elderly adults who start on a statin may see an even bigger drop in their "bad" cholesterol levels than their younger counterparts do, a new study suggests.

    The study, of nearly 84,000 Danish patients, found that those age 75 and up typically showed a stronger response after starting a low- to moderate-dose statin: Compared with the typical 50-year-old, their LDL cholesterol dipped by a f...

    Minorities, Women Are Shortchanged When It Comes to Statins

    In yet another example of inequities in U.S. health care, new research indicates that many women and minority men who need statins to protect their heart aren't getting them.

    “The recommendation to use statins to treat and prevent atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease has been supported by guidelines from major clinical societies for decades,” said study author

  • Alan Mozes HealthDay Reporter
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  • July 26, 2023
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  • A Statin a Day Keeps Heart Trouble Away for Those With HIV

    Heart disease is a high risk for people with HIV, but a new study finds that taking statins significantly reduces the risk of serious heart incidents.

    People with HIV who took a daily statin pill lowered their risk of stroke, heart attack or surgery to open clogged arteries by 35%, a clinical trial funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health found.

    Statins have the potential t...

    Statins Cut Heart Risks for Folks Living With HIV

    As people with HIV live longer they're at risk of premature heart disease. But a new study finds statin drugs can cut the risk of serious heart problems by more than one-third.

    The U.S. National Institutes of Health trial found the cholesterol-lowering drugs so effective, in fact, that the study was stopped early.

    Taking the daily statin pitavastatin calcium lowered the risk of majo...

    1 in 5 Folks at High Heart Risk Refuse to Take a Statin

    Twenty percent of folks who are at high risk for heart disease refuse statins that could help prevent it, researchers report.

    They found that women were about 20% more likely than men to decline statin drugs when they were first recommended and about 50% more likely to never accept a statin recommendation.

    The research began when

  • Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
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  • February 28, 2023
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  • Statins May Lower Risk of Deadly 'Bleeding' Strokes

    Statins may do more than help your heart: New research shows the cholesterol-lowering drugs may also lower your risk for a bleeding stroke.

    An intracerebral hemorrhage, which involves bleeding in the brain, comprises about 15% to 30% of strokes, according to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. It is also the most deadly. With this type of stroke, arteries or veins rupture, ...

    'How Can I Prevent Heart Disease?' Docs Give Different Answers to Men, Women

    Doctors give men and women different advice to head off heart disease, even though guidelines for both are the same.

    Men were 20% more likely to be prescribed statins to lower blood levels of bad cholesterol compared with women, a new study found.

    Women, meanwhile, were 27% more likely to be advised to lose weight or reduce their salt intake, and 38% more likely to receive recommen...

    Biggest Study Yet Finds No Link Between Statins, Muscle Aches

    Cholesterol-lowering statins are proven lifesavers, but they've also gained a reputation for causing muscle aches and pains in a good number of patients.

    That reputation is undeserved, according to a new large-scale analysis of data from nearly two dozen clinical trials of statins.

    There's a...

    Statins Tied to Lower Risk of Parkinson's-Like Symptoms

    Millions of people taking statin drugs to lower their cholesterol may get an unanticipated benefit: They may be less likely to develop movement and balance problems like those seen in Parkinson's disease, a new study suggests.

    The study looked at the relationship between statin use and

  • Consumer news
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  • March 24, 2022
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  • Statins: Good for the Heart, Maybe Not So Good for Diabetes

    Statins are proven to lower cholesterol, but they may also come with a downside for patients with diabetes: A new study finds they may make the blood sugar disease worse.

    Researchers found that among those taking statins, 56% saw their diabetes progress, compared with 48% of those not taking statins. And the higher the dose of the statin, the faster the progression of the diabetes.

    ...

    Statin Cholesterol Drugs May Help Fight Ulcerative Colitis

    Millions of people take statins to lower their cholesterol, and new research suggests these drugs may also ease ulcerative colitis.

    An inflammatory bowel disease with no real cure, ulcerative colitis causes sore spots on the lining of the colon that can lead to rectal bleeding, diarrhea and c...

    Statin Users May Have Added Protection Against Severe COVID-19

    Could cholesterol-lowering statins help lower your risk of dying from COVID-19?

    For patients with a history of high blood pressure or heart disease, the answer appears to be yes. At least that's the conclusion of a new study that enlisted roughly 10,500 patients across 104 U.S. hospitals between January and September of 2020.

    All had been admitted with a serious bout of COVID-19. Pr...

    Statin's Health Benefits Far Outweigh  Any Potential Harms: Study

    The heart benefits of cholesterol-lowering statins in people without heart disease far exceed the risks of any side effects, a new review finds.

    Statins are widely prescribed to people with heart disease, and recent guidelines recommend greater preventive use of the drugs even before heart issues are diagnosed. But it hasn't been clear whether the benefits outweigh the risks in people wit...

    Could a Type of Statin Raise Dementia Risks?

    Certain cholesterol-lowering drugs might speed dementia in some older adults whose memories are starting to fail, a small, preliminary study suggests.

    The researchers found that of 300 older adults with mildly impaired thinking and memory, those using "lipophilic" statins were more likely to develop dementia over the next eight years.

    Lipophilic statins include such widely used medi...

    Odds for Death, Hospital Care Rise When Statins Are Stopped

    Living longer often means living with multiple health problems and numerous medications to manage them. Understandably, many doctors and their patients wonder if any of these drugs can be discontinued safely.

    A new study from Italy suggests statins should not be culled from the list.

    Among more than 29,000 adults 65 and older, those who stopped taking these cholesterol-lowering drug...

    Study Debunks Notion That Statin Meds Trigger Muscle Aches

    People taking statin drugs often complain of muscle aches, but a new study finds the medications are unlikely to be the culprit.

    The results come from a trial involving patients who had quit taking their statins, or were considering quitting, due to muscle pain.

    The researchers found that those aches were just as likely to flare when the patients were given a placebo (inactive pills...

    Gay, Lesbian Adults Often Miss Out on Cholesterol Meds

    Lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) adults are less likely to take cholesterol-lowering statins to prevent heart disease than heterosexual adults, even though they have a higher heart disease risk, according to a new study.

    Researchers conducted an online survey of more than 1,500 Facebook users, aged 40 and older, and found that nearly one-third were taking statins.

    Of the 12% of resp...

    Are Statin Side Effects 'All in Your Head'?

    Most of the side effects commonly blamed on cholesterol-lowering statins may actually be the product of patients' imaginations, new British research claims.

    The finding follows a study of 60 patients who had been taking statins but stopped because of reported muscle aches, fatigue and/or joint pain.

    But after giving the patients an unmarked eight-month supply of statins and dummy p...

    Computer 'Nudge' Spurs Doctors to Prescribe Statins to Heart Patients

    Prescriptions of cholesterol-lowering statins for heart disease patients rose significantly when doctors were prompted to choose whether or not to order them, according to a new study.

    It included 82 cardiologists and more than 11,000 patients. Doctors randomly received one of two "nudges," or notifications, in their patients' electronic health records.

    One was a "passive ch...

    Statins Going Generic Saved Medicare Billions

    Here's evidence that prescription drugs don't have to cost a fortune: New research finds Medicare saved billions as more generic cholesterol-lowering medications became available, even though the number of Americans using the drugs increased.

    "One of the most important contributors to our health care costs is expenditure on prescription drugs," said study author Dr. Ambarish Pandey, a...

    Study Casts Doubt on Value of Cholesterol Drugs

    Hundreds of millions of people worldwide take cholesterol-lowering drugs, like statins, but now a new review suggests that many folks don't benefit from these medications.

    The researchers said the review of 35 randomized controlled trials failed to show a consistent benefit in lowering the risk of heart attack or stroke, or for preventing deaths.

    "Normally, when you have a...

    In Rare Cases, Diabetes & Cholesterol Drug Combo Could Be Toxic

    Taking the statin Crestor in combination with the diabetes drug canagliflozin (Invokana) may have the potential to trigger statin toxicity, a new case report suggests.

    Although this report details the problem in just one woman, the researchers noted concern because these drugs are taken by millions of people worldwide. These drugs are also increasingly prescribed together.

    75 or Older? Statins Can Still Benefit Your Heart

    Older adults with healthy hearts probably would benefit from taking a cholesterol-lowering statin, a new study contends.

    People 75 and older who were free of heart disease and prescribed a statin wound up with a 25% lower risk of death from any cause and a 20% lower risk of heart-related death, researchers reported July 7 in the Journal of the American Medical Association...

    Cancer Patients Less Likely to Be Prescribed Heart Meds: Study

    Heart disease is on the rise among cancer patients and survivors, but they're less likely than people without cancer to be prescribed medicines to protect their heart, a new study finds.

    Heart disease has become a leading cause of long-term preventable death in cancer survivors, according to the study published June 16 as a research letter in the journal JACC: CardioOncology.<...

    Women Less Likely to Get Standard Heart Medications

    It's a myth that heart attacks are a "man's disease." Yet a new research review confirms that women remain less likely than men to get medications routinely recommended for preventing heart trouble and strokes.

    Researchers found that across 43 international studies, a general pattern emerged: Women with risk factors for heart disease and stroke were less likely than men to be prescrib...

    Fewer Americans Have High Cholesterol

    The number of American adults with high cholesterol dropped nearly 8 percentage points from 2000 to 2018, health officials reported Wednesday.

    By 2018, just over 11%#37; of adults age 20 and over had high cholesterol, a major cause of heart disease, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    "The Healthy People 2020 Guidelines has e...

    Statins Might Reduce Harms From Breast Cancer Chemo

    Cholesterol-lowering statins are commonly used to help prevent heart disease. Now a new study hints that they could shield women's hearts from the harms of certain breast cancer drugs.

    The study focused on women in Canada who'd been treated with either chemotherapy drugs called anthracyclines or the medication Herceptin. Though the treatments can be lifesaving, they can also damage th...

    Cholesterol Drugs Might Help Curb 'High-Risk' Prostate Cancers

    Drugs that many men with prostate cancer might already be taking -- cholesterol-lowering statins -- may help extend their survival if they have a "high-risk" form of the disease, new research suggests.

    High-risk patients include men with high blood levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA) and a "Gleason score" of 8 or more. Gleason scores are a calculation used to gauge prognosis in...

    Healthy Habits Can Slide After Starting Heart Medications

    Some people let healthy habits fall by the wayside after they start medications for high cholesterol or high blood pressure, a new study finds.

    Of more than 41,000 middle-aged Finnish adults researchers followed, those who started on cholesterol or blood pressure drugs were more likely to stop exercising or gain weight in the years afterward.

    The pattern does not prove that ...

    AHA News: Statins May Do Double Duty on Heart Disease and Cancer

    About 40 million adults in the U.S. take a statin to lower their cholesterol and reduce the risk for heart disease. They might also be getting an added anti-cancer benefit, a growing body of evidence suggests.

    Scientists first began investigating a connection between statins and cancer while looking at the drug's potential long-term side effects. Early animal studies that showed stat...

    Statins Won't Harm Aging Brains, and May Even Help

    Concerns that cholesterol-lowering statin drugs can impair brain health appear to be unfounded, according to new research.

    "Statins won't make you stupid or cause memory loss," said lead researcher Dr. Katherine Samaras, a professor of medicine at St. Vincent's Clinical School of Medicine in Darlinghurst, Australia.

    And for some people at risk of dementia, statins like L...

    Is That Statin Doing You Any Good?

    Many people who take cholesterol-lowering statins may not benefit from them, researchers say.

    Drugs like atorvastatin (Lipitor) and fluvastatin (Lescol) provide little value to people without heart disease, new research shows. Yet these heart-healthy folks represent a sizable number of statin users.

    While statins for people with heart disease isn't controversial, their use ...

    For Kids With Genetic Condition, Statins May Be Lifesavers

    When children with genetically high cholesterol are prescribed statins, it can drastically cut their risk of heart disease and death before the age of 40, a new study finds.

    At issue is a condition called familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), an inherited genetic disorder that causes levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol to soar. It begins at birth, and people with FH have a high risk of deve...

    AHA News: Why Aren't More Stroke Survivors Getting Statins?

    People with a history of stroke are less likely than those with heart disease to get cholesterol-lowering statin drugs despite the benefits, a new study has found.

    Statins help protect the heart and brain by preventing artery plaques — buildups of cholesterol, calcium and other substances in blood vessels — from blocking blood flow and causing a heart attack or stroke. Fo...

    Poor Circulation in Legs? Statin Meds Can Keep You Living Longer

    Folks with peripheral artery disease (PAD) have a much lower risk of death if they take cholesterol-lowering statins as directed by their doctor, a new study reports.

    About 200 million people worldwide suffer from PAD, a condition in which arteries feeding blood to the legs become clogged, researchers explained.

    However, patients who took their prescribed statins had a 20% r...

    AHA News: Why Do Women Get Statins Less Frequently Than Men?

    Women are less likely than men to be treated with cholesterol-lowering statins - or get them prescribed at guideline-recommended intensity levels when they do, according to a new study that also looked at reasons behind the discrepancies.

    Statins help reduce the risk of heart attacks, stroke and other cardiovascular events by lowering high cholesterol levels. But women historically h...

    Higher Cost of New Cholesterol Drugs Putting Patients at Risk: Study

    Heart attacks, strokes and other heart problems are more likely in high-risk patients denied access to cutting-edge cholesterol-busting drugs called PCSK9 inhibitors, a new study reports.

    Patients are 16% more likely to have a heart-related health crisis if their PCSK9 prescription is rejected than if it is covered and filled for a year, according to researchers.

    Patients wh...

    Statins May Lower Risk of Stroke After Cancer Radiotherapy

    Radiation treatment for cancer can damage the heart and blood vessels, increasing the risk for a stroke or heart attack. But a new study suggests cholesterol-lowering drugs can significantly reduce that risk.

    The researchers reported that taking statins may lower the risk of a stroke after radiation treatment by 32%.

    "Our study demonstrated that statin therapy could be f...

    Heart Attack Treatment Could Cut 'Bad' Cholesterol by Half Within Hours

    Imagine a procedure that filters "bad" LDL cholesterol from your bloodstream in a matter of hours.

    The procedure, called LDL apheresis, works somewhat like kidney dialysis. Small amounts of blood are gradually removed from the body through an IV, then passed through a machine that removes LDL cholesterol.

    Researchers found that when patients had the procedure a few days afte...

    Bad Info May Be Scaring Patients Away From Heart-Healthy Statins

    More than a quarter of people who could benefit from taking statins don't, and a new survey suggests that while not enough doctors are prescribing the cholesterol-lowering drugs, fears about side effects also play a part.

    "There is so much misinformation about statins in the media that it's clearly permeated and now is affecting people's ability to take these medications and improve t...

    Prescription Fish Oil Pill Lowers Heart Attack Risk in Those Already on Statins

    MONDAY, March 18, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- Patients who have high triglycerides and take cholesterol-lowering statins to lower their risk for heart attack or stroke can cut that risk by another 30 percent by adding a high-dose omega-3 fatty acid pill, investigators report.

    The prescription drug, called Vascepa, is not to be confused with over-the-counter dietary omega-3 (often...

    Despite Big Heart Benefits, Far Too Many Skip Statins

    People who've already had a heart attack or stroke can cut their odds for another one in half if they regularly take cholesterol-lowering statins.

    Yet new research found that only about 6 percent of patients take these drugs as prescribed by their doctor.

    "Very few patients were optimally compliant. We found that the less compliant you were, the worse you did," said the stu...

    New Drug Could Help Those With Tough-to-Treat Cholesterol

    People whose high cholesterol is resistant to treatment with statin drugs may soon have a new treatment option.

    This new class of drugs helps block synthesis of artery-clogging cholesterol, researchers explained. The drugs target an enzyme called ATP citrate lyase (ACL), part of the production pathway for "bad" LDL cholesterol in the body.

    In the new trial, bempedoic acid, a pil...

    Meds for Blood Pressure, Cholesterol Help the Heart -- But Maybe Not the Mind

    While effective at cutting heart risks, blood pressure and cholesterol drugs may not help preserve seniors' brain health, new research finds.

    That conclusion came from the tracking of more than 1,600 men and women in 21 countries.

    Over an average span of nearly six years, all of the seniors took different combinations of drugs to lower blood pressure and/or statins to contr...

    Statins Help the Heart, No Matter What Your Age

    Cholesterol-lowering statins are already known to help cut heart risks for seniors and the middle-aged. Now, research confirms the meds can also help people aged 75 and older.

    "Statin therapy has been shown to prevent cardiovascular disease in a wide range of people, but there has been uncertainty about its efficacy and safety among older people," said lead investigator Anthony Keech...

    Common Heart, Diabetes Meds May Help Ease Mental Illness

    A new study is raising the question of whether certain cholesterol, blood pressure and diabetes drugs could help manage mental illnesses like schizophrenia.

    The findings come from a study of over 142,000 Swedish patients with serious mental illnesses -- including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The researchers found that those patients typically fared better during periods when th...