• Government
• Profession
• Business
• Opinion
• Health

• Health reform
• H1N1
• P4P
• EMRs
• Medicare
• Liability
• AMA House
• » More

• Book Excerpt
• Business Pitch
• Meetings
• » More

• Contract Language
• Ethics Forum
• In the Courts
• Practice Management
• Technically Speaking
• » More

• Issue dates
• Regions
• Health plans
• Sections
• News briefs
• Columns
• Editorials
• Letters
• Writers
• Other years

• Search tips
• E-mail alert
• Radio
• RSS
• Mobile
• Subscribe
• Institutions
• Staff directory
• Advertising
• Permissions
• Reprints
• News media
• Site guide
• Useful links
• About
• Premium
• Contact

Beyond cholesterol: New uses for statins

This class of drugs may offer potential to treat a range of conditions -- from osteoporosis to Alzheimer's.

By Susan J. Landers, amednews staff. June 18, 2001.

• PRINT|
• E-MAIL|
• RESPOND|
• REPRINTS|
• SHARE

Washington -- Dramatic headlines touting the virtues of statins keep coming. But do they herald a new wonder drug? Answering this has become a very active research area.

There is no question that the beneficial effects of statins go well beyond their ability to lower cholesterol. The drugs' role in preventing heart attacks and strokes is very clear. Less clear, but still promising, are findings demonstrating the drugs' ability to prevent dementia and osteoporosis. And trials on the drugs' effect on diabetes are in the planning stages.

Even if the drugs' powers prove to be primarily cardiovascular, they still deserve great praise, said cardiologist Jonathan Abrams, MD, professor of medicine at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. "They are one of the most important advances in pharmacological therapy in any area of medicine over the past 20 years."

Dr. Abrams praises the drugs for establishing the "cholesterol hypothesis." Until 1994 when the results of a large Scandinavian trial were published, there was a huge amount of controversy over whether lowering cholesterol was even a good idea.

The Scandinavian trial showed that lowering cholesterol wasn't just cosmetic. "It wasn't just less heart attacks or less chest pain; there was a true survival advantage," he said.

The research findings also eliminated concerns raised in the early '90s that lowering cholesterol would cause violent behavior and suicide. "There is no known risk in these drugs other than a little bit of liver and muscle toxicity, which is well-known and not excessive," Dr. Abrams said. [...]