Three research studies so far this year have reported more benefits from taking the cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins:

1. Scottish researchers found that men taking pravastatin had a 30% reduction in the hazard of developing diabetes, compared to those not taking the medication. They suggested that the drug may reduce the development of diabetes by lowering plasma triglyceride levels. Other explanations such as the drug's anti-inflammatory properties or its effects on the endothelium should also be investigated, they added.

2. In an analysis of 3 large clinical trials of pravastatin, researchers found that the drug reduced the risk of stroke over a wide range of lipid values and patient characteristics among people with documented coronary disease. Looking at more than 13,000 patients from 2 of the studies, there was a 22% reduction in total strokes and a 25% drop in nonfatal strokes.

3. In Sweden, cardiologists reported that people who had had a heart attack who received statins to reduce their cholesterol reduced their risk of dying from another heart attack by a full 25%. In the 5500 patients who received statins, there were 219 deaths (4%), compared to 1307 deaths in the larger (14,500) no-statin group (9.3%) during the one-year period after their heart attack.

Reports such as these are leading more doctors to prescribe statins for their patients. If you have high cholesterol, or if you have had a heart attack, talk to your doctor about the benefits of statin medications.

Sources:

• Freeman DJ, Norrie J, Sattar N, et al. Pravastatin and the development of diabetes mellitus. Circulation 2001;103:357. (Abs.)
• Byington RP, Davis BR, Plehn JF, et al. Reduction of stroke events with pravastatin. Circulation 2001;103(387. (Abs.)
• Stenestrand U, Wallentin L. Early statin treatment following acute myocardial infarction and 1-year survival. Journal of the American Medical Association 2001(Jan.24/31); 285:430-436. (Abs.)