Study: Statins increase life expectancy Detroit News, Associated Press

Statins lowering cholesterol Cholesterol lowering drugs known as statins can increase the life expectancy of elderly patients by an average of two years, a new study by a doctor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences claims. The study by Dr. J.L. Mehta tracked nearly 1.5 million patients in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' South Central Healthcare Network. Doctors prescribed statins to about 350,000 patients, almost half older than 70. Another 1.2 million patients did not receive the drugs.

American Journal of Cardiology "We were surprised to find that statin users actually lived an average two years longer despite the patients having more health risk factors and being older than non-statin users," Mehta said in a press release. "We did not expect that statin therapy would have such a profound impact on patients' lives." Statins reduce the amount of cholesterol produced by the liver. Cholesterol can form plaque within arteries, which reduces blood flow and can cause heart attacks and strokes. By lowering the amount of cholesterol in the blood, statins can slow plaque buildup and can help reduce the amount of existing plaque. AJC

The study Data were obtained from the VISN 16 Data Warehouse. The VISN 16 Data Warehouse contains clinical and demographic information on all patients cared for at the 10 medical centers included in the South Central Veterans Affairs Healthcare Network in the mid-south region of the United States. The Data Warehouse, implemented in 1996, electronically and automatically retrieves and stores data from all patients entered into the Veterans Affairs computerized system. These data include demographics, laboratory tests, vital signs, drugs prescribed, outpatient visits, hospitalizations, and International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision and Diagnosis Related Groups (DRG) codes. As of March 31, 2004, the database contained data for approximately 1.5 million patients.

Statin users were higher risk

Lower predicted probability of death

Mean age of death no statin use Mean age of death statin use