Statins improve prognosis in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Statins reduce mortality from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease according to a new clinical study.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive disease involving destruction of lung tissue. It is characterized by episodes known as exacerbations, which usually necessitate hospital admission. A team in Norway has been looking at outcomes after exacerbations in patients who are taking statins for cholesterol-lowering.

They found that two years after hospital admission, 333 COPD patients out of 845 had died. There was a 43 per cent reduction in this mortality if the patient was on statins. The researchers think that this may be because statins improve undiagnosed heart disease. They also wonder whether statins have an anti-inflammatory effect which works directly on the lungs. What is needed now is a larger, placebo-controlled trial to assess whether statins can really improve the prognosis in COPD.

Source
European Respiratory Journal February 2007

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