Latest News | Study Finds Statins, Which Lowers Cholesterol, Could Bring Down Death Rate in Patients with Sepsis
Get latest articles and stories on Latest News at LatestLY. Statins, which are drugs that help lower 'bad' cholesterol, could lower the death rate by nearly 40 per cent for critically ill patients with sepsis, a study has found.
New Delhi, Jun 9 (PTI) Statins, which are drugs that help lower 'bad' cholesterol, could lower the death rate by nearly 40 per cent for critically ill patients with sepsis, a study has found.
Sepsis, in which the body's immune system overreacts to an infection with an exaggerated inflammation response, can cause organ damage and be life-threatening.
Statins -- mainly used for protecting against cardiovascular disease -- are being studied for treating inflammatory disorders.
"Statins have anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antioxidative and antithrombotic properties. They may help mitigate excessive inflammatory response, restore endothelial function, and show potential antimicrobial activities," author Dr Caifeng Li, an associate professor at Tianjin Medical University General Hospital in China, said.
The study's findings, published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology, show for the first time that a supplementary treatment of hospitalised patients having sepsis with statins could boost their chances of survival, the authors said.
"Our large, matched cohort study found that treatment with statins was associated with a 39 per cent lower death rate for critically ill patients with sepsis when measured over 28 days after hospital admission," Li said.
The study analysed the health records of 265,000 adult patients admitted to the emergency department and the intensive care unit of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center of Boston between 2008 and 2019. The patients were diagnosed with sepsis and hospitalised for longer than 24 hours.
The authors compared outcomes between patients who received or did not receive statins during their stay, besides standard care.
Results showed that the death rate over a 28-day period was 14.3 per cent in the statin group and 23.4 per cent in the no statin group, indicating a reduction of 39 per cent.
"Additionally, statin use was associated with decreased ICU mortality and reduced in-hospital mortality," the authors wrote.
"These results strongly suggest that statins may provide a protective effect and improve clinical outcomes for patients with sepsis," Li said.
However, clinical trials, including randomised controlled ones, are needed to confirm or reject our results, the author added.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)