US Pharm. 2012;37(9):6.
Glasgow, Scotland—Counter to the results of some other studies of lipid-lowering therapies, an analysis that pooled published and unpublished data from previous studies and included more than 150,000 subjects found that statin therapy was associated with a reduced risk of pancreatitis in patients with normal or mildly elevated triglycerides. University of Glasgow researchers examined associations between use of a statin or fibrate and incidence of pancreatitis, and determined that subjects taking statins had a notably lower risk of pancreatitis. “Although the present results for both statins and fibrates should be considered hypothesis-generating…the analysis raises questions regarding the choice of lipid-modifying agents in patients with hypertriglyceridemia. In those with slightly elevated triglyceride levels, statins appear better supported by the available data than fibrates for preventing pancreatitis,” the researchers noted.
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