HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, July 20, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Could cholesterol-lowering statins assistance little your hazard of dying from COVID-19?
For patients with a past of high humor pressure oregon heart disease, the reply appears to beryllium yes. At slightest that's the decision of a caller survey that enlisted astir 10,500 patients crossed 104 U.S. hospitals betwixt January and September of 2020.
All had been admitted with a superior bout of COVID-19. Prior to hospitalization, 42% had been taking statins to rein successful high cholesterol, with 7% taking statins unsocial and 35% taking some statins and blood unit medications.
In the end, astir a 5th of the patients either succumbed to COVID-19 oregon were discharged to a hospice setting.
"[But] we recovered that patients taking statin medications anterior to getting hospitalized owed to COVID-19 had a 41% little hazard of dying during that hospitalization, adjacent aft adjusting for different factors similar age, gender, different aesculapian problems, and what benignant of aesculapian security they had," said survey writer Dr. Lori Daniels.
After analyzing information amassed by the American Heart Association, the squad besides concluded that statin usage was likewise linked to a 25% little hazard for processing a "severe outcome" arsenic a effect of COVID-19 infection.
Why? Statins mightiness person this effect by "stabilizing the underlying bosom conditions for which they are prescribed, making patients much apt to retrieve from COVID-19," said Daniels, manager of the cardiovascular intensive attraction portion astatine the University of California, San Diego.
But not each patients connected statins person precocious bosom disease, Daniels' squad noted. Many comparatively steadfast patients besides instrumentality them successful proactively to stave disconnected cardiovascular trouble.
Which begs the question, could statins besides little decease among COVID patients who don't yet person superior underlying heart issues? Daniels suggested the assemblage is inactive retired connected that question.
She noted that statins battalion a perchance adjuvant anti-inflammatory punch. Her squad recovered that statins drove decease hazard down by 16% among patients with nary anterior past of bosom disease.
Still, Daniels cautioned that for bosom steadfast patients, the proceedings results were "not statistically significant." And "the contiguous survey cannot archer america whether giving patients statins, if they are not already connected them, would beryllium helpful," she stressed.
Continued
"However, successful different settings too COVID-19, specified arsenic patients coming successful with ample heart attacks, studies person shown that giving statins up beforehand -- aboriginal successful the hospitalization to patients not already connected them -- improves outcomes," Daniels said, reducing the hazard for aboriginal bosom attacks and death.
"So, determination is precedent for statins making a quality rapidly successful hospitalized patients," she noted.
Even so, Dr. Gregg Fonarow -- manager of the Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center -- had a mixed absorption to the findings.
He acknowledged that determination has agelong been involvement successful whether bosom drugs -- including precocious humor unit medications and statins-- mightiness connection COVID-19 patients a limb up erstwhile it comes to lowering illness severity and fatalities.
"And a fig of observational studies person suggested determination were associations betwixt anterior oregon continued utilized of these medications and COVID-19 severity and objective outcomes," noted Fonarow, who wasn't portion of the study.
But helium stressed that nailing down a imaginable payment is precise difficult, fixed the wide array of factors that tin power outcomes among COVID patients. And helium pointed retired that different trials involving bosom patients struggling with COVID "have not recovered payment or harms" linked to either people of medicines.
Still, Fonarow noted that further trials are already underway. And "current guidelines urge continuation of these therapies," helium said.
Daniels and her colleagues published their findings July 15 successful the diary PLOS ONE.
More information
The American Heart Association has much connected COVID and bosom patients.
SOURCES: Lori Daniels, MD, director, cardiovascular intensive attraction unit, University of California, San Diego; Gregg Fonarow, MD, director, Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center, Los Angeles; PLOS ONE, July 15, 2021
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