Statins ‘cut admissions for heart failure by 10 per cent’

STATINS can cut the number of hospital admissions for heart failure by 10 per cent, researchers claim.

A breakthrough study found that the cholesterol-lowering drugs improved outcomes for those suffering from the common cardiac disorder.

The medication has already been linked to a reduction in heart attacks.

But the latest research is the first to show the benefits for those at risk of heart failure – which occurs when the organ struggles to maintain adequate blood flow to the body.

Scientists from the University of Glasgow said their findings herald a ‘significant benefit’ for the near-one million Britons affected by the condition.

Exerts from the university’s Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences reviewed 17 statin trials involving more than 100,000 patients as part of their analysis. Lead researcher Dr David Preiss said: ‘Heart failure is disabling, expensive to treat, especially in more advanced stages, and patients have a poor outcome.

‘While it has been assumed that statins reduce the development of heart failure simply because they reduce heart attacks, to our surprise this had not been definitively shown before.

‘The results of this analysis clearly show a modest, but significant benefit, reducing hospital admission for heart failure by 10 per cent, which is clinically important.’

Heart failure happens when damage to the heart leaves it too weak to pump blood efficiently round the body. Around 100,000 Britons a year are thought to die from it.

Figures show 15 per cent of patients with the condition die in hospital – twice the European average – partly because of late diagnosis and treatment that fails to adequately control symptoms.

Signs including swollen legs, tiredness and shortness of breath – which usually worsen following exercise.

Dr Preiss added: ‘It is probable that statins decrease the degree of ischaemia [lack of blood flow] that occurs before a heart attack, leading to a decrease in the number of people with other ischaemic events and reducing the chronic impact on the heart.

‘Further study of the potential mechanism is needed.’

The study found a 10 per cent reduction in first hospital admissions for heart failure, although researchers believe the impact of statins has been underestimated.

The study was reported at the European Atherosclerosis Society Congress in Glasgow and was published online in The European Heart Journal.

Between eight and ten million adults take statins – which are now the most widely prescribed drugs in the UK.

The NHS estimates they save 7,000 lives a year in the UK, despite growing concern over the extent of side-effects such as increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

Doctors once prescribed the drug to those with a 30 per cent risk of a heart attack within the next decade, but this was cut to a 20 per cent risk in 2005.

Under current guidance, the threshold is even lower. Those who have a 10 per cent or greater risk are being offered statins, including patients aged 80 and over.

‘Significant benefit’