Benefits of Statins on heart, brain, Lungs & Bone
Statins offers various benefits for the heart. They include -
- Statins help protect against heart attack
A Japanese study published in the Lancet found that statins plus fish oil supplements provided substantial protection against
Statins reduce the need for
- Statins may reverse coronary artery disease
In 2006, a large multinational study was the first to show that statins therapy may actually cause fatty plaques inside the arteries to shrink. The results, which were also highlighted in the Asterid Study, showed that atherosclerosis regressed in 78 percent of patients
- Statins ameliorate heart failure
A large database review study found that patients who took rosuvastatin for 12 months had improved ejection fractions and greater heart function efficiency.
- Statins may prevent stroke
- Statins reduce deaths from respiratory diseases
A study reported in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine found that statins can dramatically slow the decline in lung function related to aging. The effect was consistent, whether patients had never smoked, quit years ago, quit recently, or were active smokers.
- Statins may prevent Alzheimer’s
Researcher found fewer tangles and plaques characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease in the brains of deceased elderly men and women who had taken statins, compared with those who had not. While this is in itself not conclusive it is exciting news that statins might prevent this devastating illness, for which no prevention or cure is known.
- Statins increase bone density
- And Now Comes Jupiter -Statins lowered the risk of heart attacks and strokes by reducing cholesterol.
In 2008 American Heart Association broke the stirring news that a new study suggested that even people with low cholesterol could benefit from statins by virtue of the drug’s ability to significantly lower their risk of heart attacks, strokes, and death.
The study, called the ‘Justification for the Use of Statins in Primary Prevention’, or JUPITER, found that the risk of heart attack was cut by more than half for people who took statins. The statin was considered so beneficial that an independent safety monitoring board stopped what was supposed to be a five-year trial last March after only less than two years.
Some experts stress, however, that more research is needed to further pinpoint the patients with normal to low cholesterol who will benefit from statin therapy.
Are Statins Right For You?
Doctors universally agree that the benefits of statins far outweigh the risks. Their side effects are widely known, and for the most part, mild. They include muscle pain (myalgia) and elevation of liver enzymes, which must be checked regularly.
For most people, moderate, tolerable doses of these wonder drugs may be sufficient in providing significant, beneficial health benefits.
