Statins Prove Beneficial Against Arthritis and Cardiac Arrest

Statins are beneficial against cardiac arrest and arthritis.

New studies have revealed that statins have more beneficial effects than researchers previously thought. One team of Taiwanese researchers discovered that the cholesterol-lowering drugs can boost the survival odds of patients who suffered a cardiac arrest. Another group from Massachusetts found that statins could reduce the risk of death from certain forms of arthritis by at least 30 percent.

If you’re not familiar with this specific type of drugs, know that statins are a class of medication that lowers the cholesterol levels and thus reduce the risk of heart attack, heart disease, and stroke. This is the primary purpose they have been used for since they were first introduced. However, researchers have discovered two new beneficial effects.

First, researchers from the National Taiwan University Hospital as well as the College of Medicine in New Taipei City analyzed the medical records of around 138,000 cardiac arrests patients in Taiwan. They discovered that patients which already took statins like Crestor or Lipitor had a 19 percent chance of surviving a hospital admittance after a cardiac arrest. They also had a 47 percent chance of actually being discharged and up 50 percent more likely to be alive a year later.

Researchers observed the greatest improvements were seen in patients with type-2 diabetes. They think that statins help improve survival odds by stabilizing the coronary plaque and prevent a significant rupture which leads to a cardiac arrest.

Second, scientists from the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston discovered that the drugs in question reduce mortality risks by 30 percent in patients suffering from ankylosing spondylitis as well as psoriatic arthritis. Both disorders involve the inflammation of joints, however, the first type affects those in the spine and is characterized by back pain and stiffness.

The study revealed that besides the cholesterol-lowering effects of statins, the drugs also have anti-inflammatory properties which benefit the cardiovascular health of patients. The researchers analyzed 2,904 patients with those two type of arthritis which started taking statins between 2000 and 2014. They compared their results with those of another 2,904 patients with the same condition but who did not take statins.

They found a 30 percent reduction in mortality risk associated with ankylosing spondylitis or psoriatic arthritis in patients who took the drugs compared to those that did not.

Image source: Wikimedia

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Nancy Young

When I was younger I used to spend almost all of my free time playing computer games. My mom and dad would go mental over this. “You’re never going to do anything with your life if you are going to play games all day” they used to say. What was even more unusual was the fact that I played more games than most of the guys in my friend group. Looking back, I have to admit that I probably played a bit too much, but I also learned a lot of great things. When I turned 20 I decided that it was high-time to make some money of my own, but the only jobs I could get were that of waitress or cashier. How exciting. After several excruciating months of serving tables I had a great idea: since I love gaming so much, why don’t I write about it? That’s when I started doing small writing projects on Elance. Eventually, I got an offer for a part-time job. During that time I learned all about content marketing strategies and how search engines work. I started writing about various topics such as technology, health and lifestyle and discovered that I was actually good at it. On November 24, 2014, I became part of the ArgyllFreePress team.