How statins could help 2.5m patients with kidney disease

STATINS should be offered to an extra two-and-a-half million patients with chronic kidney disease, according to the health watchdog.

The guidelines mean some 20million adults in England – almost half the population – are now eligible to take the cholesterol-lowering pills.

Patients suffering with chronic kidney disease are at a much higher risk of having a heart attack or stroke as the condition leads to the accumulation of fatty deposits in arteries.

Approximately 2.6million adults in England have chronic kidney disease, which is more common in the elderly and among black and Asian ethnic groups.

The condition leads to 60,000 deaths a year, and many are due to heart disease, which includes heart attacks and strokes.

The health watchdog NICE is now recommending that gPs offer statins to all adults with kidney disease on the basis that they are safe and clinically effective.

The guidance comes amid a long-running debate over whether the benefits of the pills outweigh their long-term harms.

Many doctors and patients remain concerned about their side effects, which include muscular aches, diabetes and memory loss.

But academics claim the pills are preventing 80,000 heart attacks and strokes a year and that many others would be avoided if statins were prescribed more widely.

Approximately 6million adults in England are currently taking the pill although 17.5 million are eligible, excluding patients with kidney disease.

Professor gillian leng, deputy chief executive at NICE, said: ‘We know that a high number of people with long-term kidney problems will develop cardiovascular disease. This means they have an increased risk of suffering a fatal heart attack or stroke.

‘The effectiveness of statins is now well proven, as is their long-term safety.

‘They may appeal to a lot of people who are at risk.’

The guidelines recommend patients take a 20mg daily dose of atorvastatin, one of the most commonly prescribed statins.

Earlier this week Harvard researchers urged patients to continue taking their statins, despite the side effects, because they were so beneficial.

The review of 28,000 patients found the pills lowered the risk of heart attack, stroke and death by 20 per cent. But it also found that 30 per cent of patients who suffered side effects abandoned them.

There is also growing evidence that statins help fight cancer by stopping tumour cells dividing and boost the body’s immune system. Research published in June found that women taking statins were 40 per cent less likely to die from breast cancer.