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Statins prove life-saving in patients with acute coronary syndromes
May 12, 2006Analysis finds statins succeed where it matters most-in improving survival
CHICAGO-Patients who begin aggressive statin therapy while in the hospital for acute coronary syndromes (ACS) have a significantly greater chance of long-term survival, according to an analysis reported at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 29th Annual Scientific Sessions in Chicago, May 10-13. (Time of presentation: Thursday, May 11, 11:33 a.m., Central Time)
By combining data from nine randomized clinical trials and evaluating clinical outcomes individually rather than in combination, the analysis was able to put a sharper focus on the benefits of early statin therapy.
"We found that there was a benefit in what matters most-survival," said Anthony Bavry, MD, a fellow in cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, OH.
The study involved data from more than 16,000 patients admitted to the hospital with ACS, a term that encompasses both unstable chest pain, or angina, and a particular form of heart attack. In each of the original studies, patients were randomly assigned to maximal-dose statin therapy during the hospital stay or to a more conservative approach that consisted of low-dose statin therapy or placebo.
Statins are primarily used to lower cholesterol levels in the blood, but they have other effects as well, including the ability to reduce inflammation in the arteries.
Dr. Bavry and his colleagues found that early, aggressive statin therapy reduced the risk of death by 22 percent and the risk of cardiovascular death by 25 percent, over a follow-up that averaged 15 months. Further analysis showed that for every 111 patients who were treated with early statin therapy, one life could be saved.
In addition, early statin therapy reduced the risk of another episode of unstable angina by 17 percent and the need to open a blocked coronary artery with a catheter-based procedure or coronary bypass surgery by 9 percent.
The improvement in survival was noticeable early on but became statistically certain only after six months of statin therapy. "The benefits keep accruing," Dr. Bavry said. "Once a patient has acute coronary syndrome, there may not be a safe time to discontinue this medication."
Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions
"We found that there was a benefit in what matters most-survival," said Anthony Bavry, MD, a fellow in cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, OH.
The study involved data from more than 16,000 patients admitted to the hospital with ACS, a term that encompasses both unstable chest pain, or angina, and a particular form of heart attack. In each of the original studies, patients were randomly assigned to maximal-dose statin therapy during the hospital stay or to a more conservative approach that consisted of low-dose statin therapy or placebo.
Statins are primarily used to lower cholesterol levels in the blood, but they have other effects as well, including the ability to reduce inflammation in the arteries.
Dr. Bavry and his colleagues found that early, aggressive statin therapy reduced the risk of death by 22 percent and the risk of cardiovascular death by 25 percent, over a follow-up that averaged 15 months. Further analysis showed that for every 111 patients who were treated with early statin therapy, one life could be saved.
In addition, early statin therapy reduced the risk of another episode of unstable angina by 17 percent and the need to open a blocked coronary artery with a catheter-based procedure or coronary bypass surgery by 9 percent.
The improvement in survival was noticeable early on but became statistically certain only after six months of statin therapy. "The benefits keep accruing," Dr. Bavry said. "Once a patient has acute coronary syndrome, there may not be a safe time to discontinue this medication."
Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions
Statin Therapy Current Events and Statin Therapy News RSSVitamin B niacin offers no extra benefit to statin therapy in seniors already diagnosed with CAD
The routine prescription of extended-release niacin, a B vitamin (1,500 milligrams daily), in combination with traditional cholesterol-lowering therapy offers no extra benefit in correcting arterial narrowing and diminishing plaque buildup in seniors who already have coronary artery disease, a new vascular imaging study from Johns Hopkins experts shows.
Early end to key study on benefits of niacin, a B vitamin, in keeping arteries open was premature
Heart experts at Johns Hopkins are calling premature the early halt of a study by researchers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Washington Hospital Center on the benefits of combining extended-release niacin, a B vitamin, with cholesterol-lowering statin medications to prevent blood vessel narrowing.
Statins show dramatic drug and cell dependent effects in the brain
Besides their tremendous value in treating high cholesterol and lowering the risk of heart disease, statins have also been reported to potentially lower the risks of other diseases, such as dementia.
New tool finds best heart disease and stroke treatments for patients with diabetes
Researchers from North Carolina State University and Mayo Clinic have developed a computer model that medical doctors can use to determine the best time to begin using statin therapy in diabetes patients to help prevent heart disease and stroke.
One size does not fit all
Statins, a commonly prescribed class of drugs used by millions worldwide to effectively lower blood cholesterol levels, may actually have a negative impact in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients treated with high daily dosages.
6.5 million more patients might benefit from statins to prevent heart attacks, strokes
Millions more patients could benefit from taking statins, drugs typically used to prevent heart attacks and strokes, than current prescribing guidelines suggest, Johns Hopkins doctors report in a new study.
Statins pay off on a health-policy level, UCSF study finds
Current guidelines for when to prescribe popular cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins would produce cost-effective results and would save thousands of lives every year if they were followed more closely by physicians and patients, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.
Statins may treat blood vessel disorder that can lead to fatal strokes
In a finding that could save thousands of lives a year, University of Utah School of Medicine researchers have shown that a blood vessel disorder leading to unpredictable, sometimes fatal, hemorrhagic strokes, seizures, paralysis or other problems is treatable with the same statin drugs that millions of people take to control high cholesterol.
Low cholesterol associated with cancer in diabetics
Low levels of LDL cholesterol as well as high levels are associated with cancer in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Lowering cholesterol early in life could save lives
With heart disease maintaining top billing as the leading cause of death in the United States, a team of University of California, San Diego School of Medicine physician-researchers is proposing that aggressive intervention to lower cholesterol levels as early as childhood is the best approach available today to reducing the incidence of coronary heart disease.
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