| Statins may protect against pneumonia deaths | Posted on 28/10/2008 in Industry related health news People who take cholesterol-lowering statins before being admitted to hospital with pneumonia may be less like to die in the months afterward, a new report has found.
A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine today claims that individuals appear less likely to die within 90 days of being hospitalised.
Researchers reviewed data from 29,900 adults admitted to hospital with pneumonia between 1997 and 2004. Of these, 1,371 (4.6 per cent) were taking statins at the time.
Mortality among statin users was lower than among non-users, 10.3 per cent compared to 15.7 per cent after 30 days and 16.8 per cent compared to 22.4 per cent after 90 days, the report found.
"The differences became apparent during the first few weeks of hospitalisation, a period associated with a high number of pneumonia-related deaths, and they increased only minimally between 30 and 90 days after admission, which suggests that statin use is beneficial primarily in the early phase of infection," the authors state.
Experts note statins change the immune response, beneficially affect processes associated with blood clotting and inflammation and inhibit dysfunction in blood vessels.
"These effects may especially benefit patients with sepsis and bacteremia, which are associated with early death from pneumonia," the authors claim.Other news stories from 28/10/2008
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