Contributed by Nicole Weaver| 27 September, 2005 16:11 GMT
'The absolute benefits increased with continuing treatment, and treatment produced a clear reduction in all-cause mortality.'
Using statin drugs to lower LDL (lower-density lipoprotein) cholesterol results in fewer heart attacks and strokes, according to an article published in
The Lancet, with no apparent increase in cancer risk.
Statins have been shown to reduce the incidence of coronary heart disease significantly in previous clinical trials, but uncertainties remained about their overall effect on mortality and major illness. Some studies had suggested that statins might increase the risk of certain types of cancer.
Reduction in All-Cause Mortality
Colin Baigent and colleagues from the Clinical Trial Service Unit (CTSU) at Oxford University, along with Anthony Keech and colleagues from the NHMRC Clinical Trials Center (CTC) in Sydney, combined data from 14 randomized trials of statins involving over 90,000 patients in the first meta-analysis of its kind.
Statin therapy reduced the 5-year incidence of major coronary events and stroke by about one fifth per mmol/L reduction in LDL cholesterol, the results show, irrespective of a person’s pre-treatment cholesterol level or other characteristics.
"The absolute benefits increased with continuing treatment," says Dr. Baigent, "and treatment produced a clear reduction in all-cause mortality. There was no evidence that lowering LDL cholesterol by 1 mmol/L with 5 years of statin therapy increased the risk of any specific cancer."
Major Clinical and Public Health Benefits
"Full compliance with available statin regimens can reduce LDL cholesterol by at least 1 |
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