Copyright 2012 Medical News TodayLatest Health News and Medical News posted throughout the day, every day.http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/statins/admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin)editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors)en-us Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241138.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241138.phpA new study published in the journal Pharmacoepidemiology & Drug Safety reveals that internet sites selling prescription statins directly to consumers are widespread, and that most websites advertising statins for sale to the general public contain very poor levels of information relevant to safe use of the medicine and side effects...Statins Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240986.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240986.phpStatins given to female patients are as effective in preventing the occurrence of cardiovascular events as they are for men, researchers from Boston and New York reported in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Cardiovascular events include stroke, heart attack, and angina. William J. Kostis, Ph.D., M.D...Statins Mon, 23 Jan 2012 02:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240636.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240636.phpStatins are commonly prescribed to lower cholesterol, but a recent study suggest certain types of breast cancer may respond to treatment with statins...Breast Cancer Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240546.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240546.phpCholesterol-lowering statins seem to keep breast cancer at bay in some patients. Now researchers reporting in the January 20th issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, provide clues about how statins might yield those unexpected benefits. The findings also suggest that mutations in a single gene could be used to identify tumors likely to respond to statin therapy...Breast Cancer Wed, 11 Jan 2012 08:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240202.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240202.phpAccording to a study published Online First in the Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals, using statins in postmenopausal women, is linked to an increased risk of diabetes...Statins Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240148.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240148.phpPost-menopausal females who take statins have been found to have a higher risk of developing diabetes, researchers from various medical schools in Massachusetts and other US faculties reported in Archives of Internal Medicine. However, the authors emphasized that the benefits of statins - cholesterol-lowering medications - still outweigh the risks, even for females in the mentioned age-groups...Statins Tue, 10 Jan 2012 10:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240141.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240141.phpStatin use appears to be associated with susceptibility or the progression of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in current and former smokers, according to a study published online in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine...Statins Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240053.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240053.phpUse of statins may influence susceptibility to or the progression of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in smokers, according to a new study...Smoking / Quit Smoking Sat, 07 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/239987.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/239987.php In the United States, the cost paid for statins (drugs to lower cholesterol) in people under the age of 65 who have private insurance is approximately 400 percent higher than comparable costs paid by the government in the United Kingdom (U.K.)...Statins Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/239939.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/239939.php People with high cholesterol are at risk of heart attack and stroke because atherosclerotic plaques within their arteries can rupture triggering the formation of a blood clot called an occlusive thrombus that cuts off the blood supply to their heart or brain. For years, scientists have studied the cause of this abnormal clotting...Statins Thu, 22 Dec 2011 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/239556.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/239556.phpA report published online by The Journal of Infectious Diseases reveals that statins, commonly known as cholesterol-lowering medications, might lower the number of deaths among individuals who are hospitalized with influenza. Vanderbilt's William Schaffner, M.D...Flu / Cold / SARS Sat, 17 Dec 2011 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/239243.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/239243.phpThe two main ways to prevent and control influenza today are annual immunization and antiviral drugs. A team of investigators has found that statins, cholesterol-lowering drugs, may offer an additional treatment to complement these approaches and reduce mortality among patients hospitalized with influenza...Flu / Cold / SARS Thu, 15 Dec 2011 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/239209.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/239209.php Findings published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases show that statins, one of the most widely sold drugs today, that are more commonly used for combating high cholesterol levels, may have a new use in helping fight influenza in critically ill patients...Flu / Cold / SARS Sat, 10 Dec 2011 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/238988.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/238988.phpPrior research studies have suggested certain cholesterol lowering statin drugs may not have beneficial effects on patients with Alzheimer's Disease (AD)...Alzheimer's / Dementia Fri, 09 Dec 2011 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/238874.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/238874.phpBy changing the behavior of certain cells within human blood vessels, Cornell University researchers have discovered important clues as to the underlying causes of atherosclerosis - a discovery researchers hope can lead to more targeted drug therapies for the prevention of the disease...Vascular Thu, 08 Dec 2011 02:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/238806.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/238806.phpOne study presented at the meeting, which is being held in Budapest, Hungary, 7 to 10 December, reports on an initiative using echocardiography to document early warning signs of adverse effects from trastuzumab (Herceptin ®)¹, while the other uses echocardiography to evaluate the protective role of ACE inhibitors and statins on the hearts of cancer patients²...Cardiovascular / Cardiology Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/238542.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/238542.php The FDA approved today a generic version of Pfizer's Lipitor, one of the world's best selling drugs. Known pharmaceutically as atorvastatin calcium tablets, Lipitor is used to reduce cholesterol. The generic version will be manufactured by Ohm Laboratories in New Brunswick, N.J. Cholesterol itself is not a major problem and is, in fact, an essential nutrient for the body...Statins Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/237818.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/237818.phpAt the American Heart Association meeting, UB professor of medicine William E. Boden, MD, discussed the AIM-HIGH clinical trial, which found that niacin provides no incremental benefit to patients with atherosclerotic heart disease, whose levels of LDL cholesterol and non-HDL (which contributes to plaque in the arteries) were very well-controlled...Cholesterol Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/237827.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/237827.phpIn a contemporary cohort of acute heart attack patients, 70 percent of the patients were unaware they had coronary heart disease (CHD) prior to the event and 60 percent of those patients were women or young men...Heart Disease Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/237720.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/237720.phpCrestor is not significantly better at stabilizing plaque and reducing cholesterol, compared to Lipitor, a Pfizer drug that Ranbaxy Laboratories will launch in much cheaper generic versions in two weeks' time...Statins Mon, 07 Nov 2011 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/237215.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/237215.php Cholesterol-lowering Drugs May Worsen Asthma Cholesterol-lowering medications may help millions fight heart disease, but this class of drugs may worsen asthma control, according to a study presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Annual Meeting in Boston, Nov. 3-8...Allergy Sun, 30 Oct 2011 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/236715.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/236715.phpAtorvastatin therapy was found to be ineffective in reducing atherosclerosis progression in children and adolescents with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)...Lupus Fri, 28 Oct 2011 05:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/236749.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/236749.phpAccording to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 322,000 adult Americans are affected by systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with approximately 5,000 to 10,000 children in the U.S. affected by lupus (Lehman 1996), although exact figures for pediatric SLE cases remain difficult to establish...Lupus Sun, 16 Oct 2011 14:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/236068.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/236068.phpBacteria that exist in our gut may affect how people respond to statins; medications used to control blood cholesterol levels. To date, doctors have not been able to properly explain why some patients on cholesterol-lowering medications respond well, while others don't...Statins Sat, 15 Oct 2011 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/235996.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/235996.phpStatins can be effective at lowering cholesterol, but they have a perplexing tendency to work for some people and not others. Gut bacteria may be the reason. A research team led by a Duke University scientist has identified three bile acids produced by gut bacteria that were evident in people who responded well to a common cholesterol-lowering drug called simvastatin...Statins