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Treatment
with a cholesterol-lowering statin drug can significantly
reduce the risk of heart disease and even death in postmenopausal
women including those who are taking hormone replacement therapy
(HRT), according to a report in Circulation: Journal of the
American Heart Association.
Statin
drugs work by reducing low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol
levels. Statins also cause minor reductions of triglyceride
levels and minor increases in high-density lipoprotein (HDL)
cholesterol levels.
Women
taking statin drugs had a 21 percent lower risk of heart attack
and death related to heart disease and a 33 percent lower
risk of dying from any cause during four years of treatment,
compared to women who were not taking the drugs. Statin drugs
were also linked with a 55 percent lower risk of blood clots
in veins.
"These
data add substantial additional support for use of statins
in women with heart disease," said Dr. David Herrington,
professor of medicine at Wake Forest University and lead author
of the study. "Our results help clarify residual concerns
about the true magnitude of statins' benefit in women, because
three previous clinical trials had produced somewhat divergent
results."
Researchers
reviewed data from the Heart and Estrogen/progestin Replacement
Study. The study evaluated the effect of HRT on heart attack
and death in 2,763 women with coronary heart disease. In a
reanalysis of the data, researchers looked at the outcomes
of 1,004 women taking a statin drug when they entered the
study and 708 women who began taking statin drugs during the
study.
Investigators
found that women taking statins at any time during the study
had significantly fewer first-time coronary heart disease
events than the women who did not take the statin drugs.
Source:
Medical Week staff,
week of June 16, 2002
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