Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Statins and Blood Pressure

I have always wondered if statins can lower blood pressure, since they improve endothelial function, improves the elasticity of the arteries, by reducing atheroma. They also seem to have some effect on the renin-angiotension-aldosterone system.

Epidermiological researchers from Naples and London, published their findings from their meta-analysis of 20 trials with statins, where patients were also hypertensive and where the pre and post-BP were documented. The length of treatment varied from 4 weeks to 1 year, and included studies right up till Yr 2005. All the commonly used statins were included in the 20 trials. The patients who were hypertensive had no change in the dose of their anti-hypertensive therapy. Overall, they all showed significant BP reduction, both systolic and diastolic. Those who had starting systolic BP > 130 mmHg, should even greater reduction and those who were diabetic, had even greater BP reduction.

It is also very interesting to postulate that hypertension may be an inflammatory disease, and statins were just acting to reduce inflammation just as they also do in the atheromatous plaque. I am also anxiously awaiting studies to show that statins also help in heart failure, as there are some work to show that heart failure may also by an inflammatory disease. Statins are a really interesting molecule.

1 comment:

SoloForge said...

Statins do not lower the risks of heart disease. They bring more harm than benefits!

I wrote about it in my blog, natural ways to lower cholesterol, which is actually about how to control inflammation, instead of cholesterol.

Oh, and if you would like to know about 3 exercises to lower blood pressure, you can visit lowering blood pressure without medication.