Cholesterol Fighting Statins May Also Help Senior
Citizens Battle High Blood Pressure
Statins may activate compounds that widen blood
vessels and improve their function
April
15, 2008 - Statins, the medication swallowed daily by millions of senior
citizens to lower their blood cholesterol levels, may also help fight
the most dominant chronic problem for senior citizens - hypertension. A
new study found statins modestly reduce blood pressure, according to a
report in the April 14 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of
the JAMA/Archives journals.
(Click on graphic at right for larger view of
chronic conditions impacting seniors.)
Several previous studies have suggested that
statins may have an effect on blood pressure, particularly in patients
with hypertension (high blood pressure), according to background
information in the article. Statins may activate compounds that widen
blood vessels and improve their function.
Beatrice A. Golomb, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues at
the University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, conducted a
randomized, double-blind trial comparing statins to placebo in 973
individuals who did not have diabetes or cardiovascular disease.
For six months between 2000 and 2004, 322
participants were assigned to take 20 milligrams of simvastatin, 323 to
take 40 milligrams of pravastatin (doses frequently prescribed for
cholesterol-lowering purposes) and 328 to take placebo.
Participants’ blood pressure was measured at the
beginning of the study, at one and six months during treatment, and
again two months after ending treatment (eight months after the
beginning of the study).
Among individuals assigned to take statins,
systolic [top number] blood pressure decreased by an average of 2.2
millimeters of mercury and diastolic [bottom number] blood pressure
decreased by an average of 2.4 millimeters of mercury.
“Blood pressure reductions ranged from 2.4 to 2.8
millimeters of mercury for both systolic blood pressure and diastolic
blood pressure with both simvastatin and pravastatin, in those subjects
with full follow-up and without potential for influence by blood
pressure medications (i.e., neither receiving nor meriting blood
pressure medications),” the authors write.
The effect of statins on blood pressure was not
evident at one month of treatment, was significant at six months of
treatment and dissipated two months after treatment ended.
“This study adds to our understanding of the
effects of statins, currently the best-selling prescription drugs in the
world,” according to the authors.
“The reduction in blood pressure seen with statins
may contribute—among other identified factors—to some of the ‘rapid’
cardiovascular benefits of statins, arising too swiftly to be explained
by effects of statins on plaque accumulation.”
Editor's Note: This study was funded by the
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of
Health. The UCSD General Clinical Research Center also helped to support
this effort.
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