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.

Women more often receive inadequate treatment to prevent cardiovascular events

Women at high risk of cardiovascular events are less likely to receive recommended statin doses for secondary prevention, according to results from the DYSIS study presented today at ESC Congress.

26 Aug 2017

Study shows role of cholesterol crystals during heart attack

A new Michigan State University study on 240 emergency room patients shows just how much of a role a person's cholesterol plays, when in a crystallized state, during a heart attack.

18 Aug 2017

Study: Less than half of stroke patients received prescription for cholesterol-lowering drug

Less than half of stroke patients discharged from the hospital received a prescription for cholesterol-lowering medication called statins, and the likelihood of a prescription varied by patients’ geographic location, sex, age and race, according to new research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke Study.

9 Aug 2017

Patients without calcium buildup in arteries have lower heart attack risk, research shows

Patients without calcium buildup in the coronary arteries had significantly lower risk of future heart attack or stroke despite other high risk factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or bad cholesterol levels, new research from UT Southwestern cardiologists shows.

8 Aug 2017

Statins prescribed to less than 50% of stroke patients across the US, says study

A new research published in the Open Access Journal of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association - Journal of the American Heart Association - suggests that, prescriptions for statins, a type of cholesterol-lowering medication, are received by less than a half of the stroke patients discharged from the hospital across the nation.

3 Aug 2017

Drop in sudden cardiac arrests linked to Obamacare

If 22 million Americans lose their health care coverage by 2026 under the GOP Senate's plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, how many people could die? The question is at the heart of the debate raging in Washington, D.C., but has been difficult to answer.

29 Jun 2017

Study finds no link between statin use and risk of polyneuropathies

It was long debated whether cholesterol-lowering statins can be conducive to the occurrence of neuropathies. A study presented at the Congress of the European Academy of Neurology in Amsterdam now issues an all-clear signal: Patients treated with statins were not at greater risk of developing polyneuropathy than others.

27 Jun 2017

Coconut oil in diet is rich in saturated fats and bad for heart says AHA advisory report

According to a new report from the American Heart Association, the use of coconut oil in the diet may not be such a good idea as previously thought.

19 Jun 2017

New position paper recommends sex-specific cardiovascular drug dosages for better treatment

Sex-specific cardiovascular drug dosages are needed to reduce adverse reactions in women, according to a position paper from the European Society of Cardiology published today in the June issue of European Heart Journal - Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy.

15 Jun 2017

Statin use may speed up onset of Parkinson's disease symptoms, study suggests

Use of statins may speed up the onset of Parkinson's disease symptoms in people who are susceptible to the disease, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.

14 Jun 2017

Study: CT angiography better predicts risk for future cardiac events in patients with stable chest pain

An analysis of diagnostic test results from the Prospective Multicenter Imaging Study for Evaluation of Chest Pain (PROMISE) trial - in which patients with stable chest pain were randomized to either anatomic or functional testing as an initial diagnostic strategy - showed that the presence and extent of coronary artery disease detected by CT angiography better predicted the risk for future cardiac events than did measures of exercise tolerance or restricted blood flow to the heart muscle.

13 Jun 2017

Statin medications can cause necrotizing myopathy in some patients

Statin medications, such as Crestor, Lipitor, and other lipid-lowering medications, have been prescribed increasingly in recent years to reduce cardiovascular disease and mortality in high risk individuals.

6 Jun 2017

Patients nearing end of life may not feel abandoned after discontinuation of cholesterol medications

New research suggests patients nearing the end of their lives because of a "life-limiting illness" such as cancer or heart disease may not feel medically abandoned if their doctor wants to take them off the statins that control their cholesterol.

2 Jun 2017

Study examines relationship between statin use and heart structure, function

Statins are associated with improved heart structure and function, according to research presented today at EuroCMR 2017. The benefits were above and beyond the cholesterol lowering effect of statins.

26 May 2017

Cholesterol-lowering drugs may not extend lifespan in heart-healthy older adults, study finds

Statins are increasingly prescribed to geriatric patients to stave off premature death from heart disease despite a lack of evidence that this practice benefits older populations.

22 May 2017

Statins may provide favorable effects in patients with HBV- or HCV-related cirrhosis

Infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) can lead to cirrhosis as well as liver cancer. A Hepatology study from Taiwan has found that statins may provide benefits to patients with HBV- or HCV-related cirrhosis.

8 May 2017

Study finds more severe coronary artery disease in Hodgkin lymphoma survivors after chest irradiation

Hodgkin lymphoma survivors have more severe coronary artery disease 20 years after chest irradiation, according to research presented today at ICNC 2017.

8 May 2017

Study finds no increase in muscle-related symptoms when patients are unaware of taking statin therapy

When patients were unaware they were taking statins there was no reported increase in muscle-related symptoms. But, when patients knew they were taking a statin, they were more likely to report symptoms, a finding consistent with the nocebo effect.

4 May 2017

Study suggests ‘synergistic’ link between exercise and vitamin D for better heart health

Johns Hopkins researchers report that an analysis of survey responses and health records of more than 10,000 American adults for nearly 20 years suggests a "synergistic" link between exercise and good vitamin D levels in reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

27 Apr 2017

Statins may provide favorable outcomes to patients with HBV- or HCV-related cirrhosis

24 Apr 2017