The raison d'etre of this website is to provide you with hard scientific information which may help you make informed decisions in your quest for health (so far I have blogged concise summaries of over 1,500 scientific studies and have had three books published).

My research is mainly focused on the effects of cholesterol, saturated fat and statin drugs on health. If you know anyone who is worried about their cholesterol levels and heart disease, or has been told to take statin drugs you could send them a link to this website, and to my statin or cholesterol or heart disease books.

David Evans

Independent Health Researcher

Saturday 28 May 2016

Statins associated with a 75% increased risk of death in patients with lung disease

This study was published in the American Thoracic Society Journal 2010.181.1_MeetingAbstracts.A170110.1164

Study title and authors:
Effect Of Statin Therapy On Outcomes In Patients With Acute Lung Injury And Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.
Seth R. Bauer, PharmD, Simon W. Lam, PharmD, Anita J. Reddy, MD

This study can be accessed at: http://www.atsjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1164/ajrccm-conference.2010.181.1_MeetingAbstracts.A1701

Acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome is a life-threatening medical condition where the lungs can't provide enough oxygen for the rest of the body.

This study investigated the effects of statins on patients diagnosed with acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome who received treatment in an intensive care unit setting. The study included 187 patients who were divided into three groups:
(i) Patients who received statins before and continued after acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome diagnosis.
(ii) Patients who received statins before but not after acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome diagnosis.
(iii) Patients who never had statins.

The study found:
(a) Overall, patients who received statins had a 75% increased risk of death compared to patients who never had statins.
(b) Patients who received statins before and continued after acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome diagnosis had a 114% increased risk of death compared to patients who never had statins.
(c) Patients who received statins before but not after acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome diagnosis had a 41% increased risk of death compared to patients who never had statins.

Links to other studies:
Link between statin use and interstitial lung disease
63.5% of patients report experiencing side-effects due to statins
Doctor says statin drug hypersensitivity reactions are potentially life-threatening