Statins Reduce Risk of Sepsis for People on Dialysis
Cholesterol Drugs Reduce Risk of Sepsis
By Mary Anne Dunkin
If you have an inflammatory form of arthritis, such as lupus or RA, reducing your risk of heart disease is crucial. Statins do just that, by lowering cholesterol levels. But they also provide another benefit to people with lupus-related kidney inflammation – called lupus nephritis – by cutting in half the risk of sepsis, a potentially deadly blood infection that can occur in people on dialysis.
In a recent study, dialysis patients taking statins had a 41-in-1,000 chance of being hospitalized for sepsis, while the risk for those not taking statins was 110 out of 1,000. Statins include the medications atorvastatin (Lipitor), fluvastatin (Lescol), lovastatin (Advicor, Mevacor), rosuvastatin (Crestor) and simvastatin (Zocor).
Sepsis is not only a problem for people on dialysis; it is the leading cause of death in hospital intensive care units. Earlier research showed statins reduced sepsis risk in hospitalized people with cardiovascular disease.
Doctors aren't sure how statins work to reduce the risk of sepsis, but suspect they have bacteria-fighting properties unrelated to their effect on cholesterol. However, experts say it's too soon to prescribe statins for sepsis prevention alone.
Source: Lancet, Vol. 367, No. 9508
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