Statin News and Research

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Statins are drugs used to lower cholesterol. Your body needs some cholesterol to work properly. But if you have too much in your blood, it can stick to the walls of your arteries, narrowing or even blocking them.

Fewer than 1 in 5 U.S. adults with Type 2 diabetes meet targets to reduce heart disease risk

Fewer than 1 in 5 adults with Type 2 diabetes in the U.S. are meeting targets to reduce heart disease risk. Fortunately, available therapies can help when combined with new approaches that address social determinants of health and other barriers to care, according to a new American Heart Association scientific statement published today in the Association's flagship journal Circulation.

10 Jan 2022

Statin treatment shown to be cost-effective for lowering cholesterol in young adults

Statin therapy has been shown cost-effective for lowering cholesterol in young adults, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

3 Dec 2021

Study finds gaps and gender differences in management of type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is a major risk factor of cardiovascular diseases, such as coronary artery disease and heart failure, as well as premature death. To prevent or at least delay complications, regular health care visits and good control of blood glucose, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and other risk factors are needed.

22 Nov 2021

Oral PCSK9-inhibitor highly effective at reducing high levels of LDL cholesterol, studies show

Results from two early clinical studies show the first version of an oral PCSK9-inhibitor cholesterol-lowering medicine was well tolerated and highly effective at reducing high levels of LDL cholesterol, according to late-breaking research presented today at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2021.

15 Nov 2021

$15 million gift to fund undergraduate programs and graduate student fellowships in life sciences

A decades-long friendship and a shared passion for basic science has inspired a $15 million gift to the Division of Biology & Biomedical Sciences (DBBS) at Washington University in St. Louis to fund undergraduate programs and graduate student fellowships in the life sciences.

30 Oct 2021

New mechanisms for treating impregnable KRAS mutant cancers with statins

Third-generation cancer immunotherapy, a method of removing cancer using the body's immune system, has shown remarkable clinical benefits in recent years, giving hopes to many researchers and patients.

27 Oct 2021

Cholesterol-lowering drugs not helpful in reducing COVID-related mortality or severity

In the worldwide effort to battle SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, researchers have often turned to medications used as therapies for other conditions in the hopes of finding ones that either kill the coronavirus or lessen the impacts from its infection.

26 Oct 2021

Statin treatment and COVID-19 mortality

The authors highlight the importance of their study in clarifying and expanding the current understanding of the relationship between COVID-19 and statins.

18 Oct 2021

Study: Statin treatment slightly lowers COVID-19 mortality

Statins are a recommended and common intervention for preventing cardiovascular events by reducing levels of lipoprotein cholesterol in the blood. During the pandemic, it has been debated whether statins influence the risk of death from COVID-19.

15 Oct 2021

Physical activity may hasten plaque build-up in the coronary arteries, finds research

Physical activity may paradoxically hasten the build-up of calcium deposits (plaque) in the coronary arteries, the amount of which is used to assess future cardiovascular disease risk, finds research published online in the journal Heart.

21 Sep 2021

Commonly prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs could be effective in treating ulcerative colitis

There may be good news for the nearly 1 million people battling ulcerative colitis, a type of inflammatory bowel condition with no real cure: Statins, a commonly prescribed cholesterol-lowering drug, seem to be an effective, if unexpected, treatment for the condition, according to a new Stanford Medicine study.

20 Sep 2021

Blood lipid biomarkers associated with lower risk of ALS

Some blood lipid biomarkers linked to cardiovascular disease risk are also associated with a lower risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) suggest the findings of a large epidemiology study published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.

14 Sep 2021

Research sheds light on potential biological mechanisms that impact adherence to medications

How strictly patients follow a prescribed drug treatment (drug adherence) is clearly important if the therapy is to have maximum effect. A number of things can affect adherence, including behavioral and socioeconomic factors, but to date there have been few investigations into the role played by genetics. Now, research to be presented at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics today has thrown new light on the potential biological mechanisms that can affect adherence to treatment.

31 Aug 2021

Combination therapy given in fixed doses can cut risk of cardiovascular disease by more than half

A combination therapy of aspirin, statins and at least two blood pressure medications given in fixed doses can slash the risk of fatal cardiovascular disease (CVD) by more than half, says an international study led by Hamilton researchers.

30 Aug 2021

Daily walnut consumption lowers LDL cholesterol levels and may promote cardiovascular health

Eating about ½ cup of walnuts every day for two years modestly lowered levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, known as "bad cholesterol," and reduced the number of total LDL particles and small LDL particles in healthy, older adults, according to new research published today in the American Heart Association's flagship journal Circulation.

30 Aug 2021

Improving lifestyle and medication use could add healthy years of life after a heart attack

Adherence to lifestyle advice and medications could add seven healthy years of life after a heart attack, according to a study presented at ESC Congress 2021.

26 Aug 2021

AHA special issue focuses on health disparities among racial, ethnic communities

Poverty and Black race were associated with higher rates of lower leg amputation among people with peripheral artery disease who live in metropolitan areas, according to new research published today in a special issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access journal of the American Heart Association.

25 Aug 2021

Eating more plant-based foods associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease in midlife

Eating more nutritious, plant-based foods is heart-healthy at any age, according to two research studies published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access journal of the American Heart Association.

4 Aug 2021

Study finds a significant link between statins and survival rates of triple-negative breast cancer patients

A study led by researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found a significant association between cholesterol-lowering drugs commonly known as statins and survival rates of triple-negative breast cancer patients. Since statins are low in cost, easy to access and produce minimal side effects, this could have an important impact on outcomes for this aggressive disease.

3 Aug 2021

Researchers identify immune protein linked to rare neurodegenerative disease

UT Southwestern researchers have identified an immune protein tied to the rare neurodegenerative condition known as Niemann-Pick disease type C.

21 Jul 2021