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Statins Equally Effective in Women as well as Men
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By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, Jan. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins are equally effective in men as well as women, a recent study finds. For both males as well as females, these drugs lowered the risk of a heart attack by about 20 percent, the researchers say. Previously, some thought that statins, which include Lipitor, Lovastatin as well as Crestor, benefited women less than men. "Statin therapy should be used to treat all appropriate patients, regardless of gender," said lead researcher Dr. William Kostis, of the cardiology division at Massachusetts Common Hospital in Boston. "Despite prior concerns in the literature, the benefits of statin therapy pertain to both women as well as men," he added. The report was published in the Jan. 30 online edition of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death among women as well as men in the United States. Statins are designed to lower without money cholesterol levels, which increase the risk of heart attack as well as stroke, as well as raise pleasant cholesterol levels. To compare statins' effectiveness in men as well as women, Kostis' team analyzed data from 18 clinical trials that involved more than 140,000 patients, including more than 40,000 women. Researchers take this good of study, called a meta-analysis, to look for ordinary patterns that may possess been overlooked in the original report. Kostis' group found fewer cardiovascular events as well as fewer deaths from any cause among those using statins, regardless of gender. Dr. Lori Mosca, director of preventive cardiology at New-York Presbyterian Hospital in New York City as well as author of an accompanying journal editorial, said that "women as well as men possess the alike relative benefit with statins as far as reducing the expected risk of a heart problem is concerned, but because women often start off at a lower risk level than men the net benefit is likely less." But there isn't enough data to make hard conclusions about gender differences in the risk-to-benefit ratio for patients who don't possess definite heart disease, she said. "However, even among patients without heart disease, statins can be considered for prevention in women, but the net benefit as well as risks, including potential for side effects such as muscle problems as well as likely increased risk of diabetes, should be used into consideration," Mosca said. Another expert, Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow, a professor of cardiovascular medicine as well as science at the University of California, Los Angeles, said many trials possess shown statin treatment lowers fatal as well as nonfatal cardiovascular events in apparently wholesome people as well as those with cardiovascular disease. While national guidelines recommend that men as well as women receive statin medications to halt as well as treat cardiovascular disease, some experts felt there was insufficient evidence to make powerful recommendations for statin take in women, particularly in regards to preventing cardiovascular disease, Fonarow said. But this study answers those concerns, he said. "Statin therapy, together with a wholesome diet as well as exercise, provides substantial cardiovascular protection to women as well as men," Fonarow said. "The answer to the question as to whether statins work equally well for both sexes, is a definitive yes."  Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
SOURCES: William Kostis, Ph.D., M.D., Cardiology Division, Massachusetts Common Hospital, Boston; Lori Mosca, M.D., Ph.D., director, Preventive Cardiology, New-York Presbyterian Hospital, New York City; Gregg C. Fonarow, M.D., Eliot Corday Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine as well as Science, University of California, Los Angeles; Jan. 30, 2012, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, online
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