Study Sheds Light on Effect of Cholesterol Lowering Drugs on Kidney Function - Video
|
Overview
Statins, a class of cholesterol-lowering drugs, have no effect on kidney function, a research team led by the University of Iowa has found. The findings are published in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
The research team examined the association between statin use in older adults and changes in two important indicators of kidney function — estimated glomerular filtration rate and urine albumin-to-creatinine (protein-to-waste) ratio.
The researchers used data collected from a previous research trial that studied use of daily low-dose aspirin in more than 18,000 older adults from the United States and Australia between 2010 and 2017. Among that population, one in five participants had chronic kidney disease. The median age was 76 in participants with chronic kidney disease and 74 in those without.
Examining the data, the researchers found statin use did not improve kidney function, as had been hypothesized in some previous scientific studies. The drugs also had no ill effects.
“While older adults are at greatest risk of cardiovascular events and kidney function decline, they are also the population at highest risk of adverse effects from medications; therefore, evidence demonstrating no negative association between statin use and kidney function provides an equally important message to one of kidney benefit,” the authors wrote.
Reference: Fravel MA, Ernst ME, Woods RL, et al. Effects of statins on kidney function in older adults. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2024; 1-12. doi:10.1111/jgs.19319
Speakers
Dr. Bhumika Maikhuri
BDS, MDS
Dr Bhumika Maikhuri is a Consultant Orthodontist at Sanjeevan Hospital, Delhi. She is also working as a Correspondent and a Medical Writer at Medical Dialogues. She completed her BDS from Dr D Y patil dental college and MDS from Kalinga institute of dental sciences. Apart from dentistry, she has a strong research and scientific writing acumen. At Medical Dialogues, She focusses on medical news, dental news, dental FAQ and medical writing etc.