US Pharm. 2008;33(5):13.

Two separate research studies suggest that statins may play a role in reducing cardiovascular risk in patients with diabetes as well as reducing the number of deaths among pneumonia patients.

The International Cholesterol Treatment Trialists' Collaboration, a group of principal investigators from all ongoing or planned large-scale trials of cholesterol treatment, report that a prospective meta-analysis conducted in Oxford, England, uncovered that all patients with diabetes may benefit from statin therapy by reducing their risk of occlusive vascular events. Their findings were reported in The Lancet.

According to the investigators, an analysis of approximately 20,000 patients with type 1 or 2 diabetes showed a decrease of all-cause mortality by 9% with every 1 mmol/L decline in LDLs. They said that statin therapy reduced the risk of myocardial infarction and coronary death, coronary revascularization, and stroke by some 21% in patients with and without diabetes.

In other statin news, a study reported in the European Respiratory Journal confirmed earlier research finding that statin drugs may reduce deaths in older adults who are hospitalized for pneumonia. While investigating statins' role in reducing pneumonia deaths, researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio were surprised to find that statin use seemed to reduce pneumonia mortality during flu season.

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