Statin drugs do not reduce risk of pneumonia or dementia
Good Catch!
If your doctor is trying to convince you to take a statin drug to lower your cholesterol, he might pull out all the stops and tell you that research shows statin use also prevents dementia and pneumonia.
Yeah. Right. It’s a miracle “wonder” drug.
Here’s your response: “Not so fast, doc.”
My new BFF
Sascha Dublin, M.D., Ph.D., is my new favorite statin investigator.
At first, it didn’t look like Dr. Dublin and I would hit it off. This past June, she told Medical News Today that she is “a fan of statins.”
A “fan of statins” I am absolutely not. And you could say I’m generally not a fan of anyone who’s a fan of statins. But here’s Dr. Dublin’s entire quote: “As a doctor, I’m a fan of statins for what they’ve been proven to do: lowering cholesterol and risk of heart disease and stroke in people who’ve had either disease or are at risk for them.”
I like that quote because it’s a rare moment of candor from someone in the pro-statin camp. And by and large she’s right. Research has shown that statins MAY reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have already had a heart attack or a stroke. The risk reduction is modest at best, but for those groups there may actually be a small benefit.
But what really won me over to Dr. Dublin is a study she conducted with colleagues at Seattle’s Group Health Center for Health Studies.
Dublin’s team matched 1125 pneumonia cases against 2235 healthy control subjects (all over the age of 65) and came up with these results:
Pneumonia patients were more likely to have chronic lung and heart disease as well as cognitive impairment
Statin use did not reduce pneumonia risk
And the kicker: Pneumonia risk was actually slightly HIGHER among statin users.
Wouldn’t it be nice?
There seems to be a segment of the medical community that has a deep desire for statins to break through and become a true wonder drug – stopping heart disease in its tracks, erasing stroke risk, solving Alzheimer’s, preventing influenza, etc. And if you ignore the considerable side effects of statin drugs, that’s an appealing fantasy.
Meanwhile, back here on earth, none of the various statin brands have emerged from clinical trials to become a cure-all super drug. Not even close.
Dr. Dublin: “We and some others have found that statins may have gotten some unearned credit for health benefits that they don’t actually have, including preventing pneumonia.”
The difference between Dr. Dublin’s study and earlier pneumonia/statin research? Diligence. Dr. Dublin and colleagues did something most of the previous studies didn’t do: They confirmed that each case of pneumonia was authentic. In addition, they were painstaking in examining records. Dr. Dublin: “We did an old-fashioned ‘chart review.’ By reading the text in the medical records, you catch crucial details.”
Good catch, Dr. Dublin!
Another key factor: None of their subjects lived in nursing homes. Populations in these facilities are easier to study, but pneumonia risk is higher.
Meanwhile, a new study from Cochrane researchers in the UK has effectively shot down a theory that statins might prevent vascular dementia.
The Cochrane group examined the results of two large studies that included more than 26,000 subjects over the age of 40. Results: Statins don’t protect against dementia among older people with vascular disease risk.
Beatrice Golomb, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of California told Medscape Psychiatry that no studies have actually shown statin use to be favorable for cognition. And she added: “There are a number of individual cases in case reports and case series where cognition is clearly and reproducibly adversely affected by statins.”
Sources:
“Statin Use and Risk of Community Acquired Pneumonia in Older People” British Medical Journal, Published online ahead of print 6/16/09, bmj.com
“Statins Don’t Lower Risk of Pneumonia in Elderly” Medical News Today, 6/17/09, medicalnewstoday.com
“Statins Fail to Prevent Dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease” Janis Kelley, Medscape, 4/15/09, medscape.com
