Millions of people around the world use medicines based on statins to lower their blood cholesterol, but new research from the University of Gothenburg, shows that statins may also be effective in the treatment of cancer.
Statins lower cholesterol by blocking certain enzymes involved in our metabolism. However, they have also been shown to affect other important lipids in the body, such as the lipids that help proteins to attach to the cell membrane (known as lipid modification). Because many of the proteins that are lipid-modified cause cancer, there are now hopes that it will be possible to use statins in the treatment of cancer.
One of the leading brands of statins, Simvastatin
The Gothenburg researchers’ studies show that statins can have a dramatic inhibitory effect on growth and development. As the researchers managed to identify the enzyme involved, they can also explain how the effect arises at molecular level.
“Our results support the idea that statins can be used in more ways than just to lower cholesterol,” says Pilon. “Not least that they can prevent the growth of cancer cells caused by lipid-modified proteins, but also that they can be effective in the treatment of diabetes and neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s.”
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November 9th, 2009 at 6:29 am
New health warnings are to be issued over popular cholesterol-lowering drugs after evidence that thousands of users suffer side effects such as depression and sexual problems.
More than six million adults who are prescribed statins by their GPs will be told about five new ‘ undesirable effects’ in leaflets issued with packets of the drugs.
These are sleep disturbances, memory loss, sexual dysfunction, depression and a rare lung disease that can kill if left untreated.
But some doctors have criticised delays by the Government’s drug safety watchdog, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
The MHRA signalled the need for updated warnings in February last year but disagreements about the wording have held up the changes.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1226238/Side-effects-alert-statin-users-drug-linked-depression-memory-loss.html
January 15th, 2010 at 3:27 am
Statins could cut the chances of developing cataracts by nearly 40 per cent, research shows.
Men aged between 45 and 54 who took the cholesterol-lowering pills virtually every day reduced their risk of cataracts later in life by 38 per cent compared with those who took them rarely, according to a study in the journal Annals of Epidemiology.
In women of the same age, the risk was reduced by about 18 per cent.
But those aged 75 or more when they started on statins saw very little reduction in risk.
Scientists who carried out the study of 180,000 people at Tel Aviv University in Israel said there was evidence that statins protect the eyes by reducing inflammation and protecting cells against a harmful process called oxidation.
About 200,000 people are year are treated for cataracts in Britain, a figure that is expected to rise significantly due to the ageing population.
April 30th, 2010 at 5:02 pm
A protein in the blood has been found to be associated with the same increased risk of heart disease as high blood pressure and cholesterol.
Analysis of data from 79,000 people showed the protein, known as Lp-PLA2, also boosts the risk of stroke and early death, the Lancet reports.
Drugs against the protein, which is involved in inflammation in blood vessels, are already being developed.
But it remains to be seen whether such treatments cut rates of heart disease.
The UK researchers who led the international study said Lp-PLA2 is carried in the blood alongside LDL or “bad” cholesterol.
Although smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, and high levels of bad cholesterol are known to cause coronary heart disease, they do not entirely explain its high incidence in the population.
This has prompted researchers to look for other factors that put people at risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Drugs which block Lp-PLA2 are of interest to researchers because studies had shown this protein is present in high levels in people with damaged arteries.
In fact two large trials are being done with one particular drug in people who already have heart disease.
Yet the extent of the link between the protein and the risk of heart disease and stroke has not been clear.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8652005.stm
May 8th, 2010 at 6:48 am
A type of blood fat different from cholesterol may play a key role in heart disease, a study suggests.
Cambridge University researchers looked at the role of triglycerides, which is produced in the liver and derived from foods such as meat and dairy products.
The analysis of 350,000 people from 101 previous studies found those with higher levels of the blood fat were more likely to have heart disease.
But experts warned more research was needed to confirm the link.
The analysis centred on a specific gene which is known to influence the levels of triglycerides, the Lancet medical journal reported.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8664917.stm