Statin use associated with a 59% increased risk of kidney failure

This study was published in the European Journal of Internal Medicine 2016 Feb 23. pii: S0953-6205(16)00059-5

 

Study title and authors:

Association of statin use and the risk of end-stage renal disease: A nationwide Asian population-based case-control study.

Lin SY, Lin CL, Hsu WH, Lin CC, Chang CT, Kao CH.

Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Science, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taiwan; Division of Nephrology and Kidney Institute, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.

 

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26920930

End-stage renal disease (ESRD), also called kidney failure, is the last stage of chronic kidney disease. When your kidneys fail, it means they have stopped working well enough for you to survive without dialysis or a kidney transplant.

This study investigated the association of statins with end-stage renal disease. The study included 11,486 patients with end-stage renal disease who were compared with the same number of people from the general population.

The study found:
(a) Statin users had a 59% increased risk of developing end-stage renal disease compared to non-users.
(b) The risk of end-stage renal disease increased with higher accumulative dosage of statins.

Lin concluded: "This population-based case-control study showed that statin use might be associated with increased ESRD risks."

Links to other studies:
Statin use is associated with a 30-36% increased incidence of acute and chronic kidney disease
Statins associated with 30% increased risk of death in kidney transplant patients
Statins increase the risk of diabetes in kidney transplant patients