(Press-News.org) Philadelphia, PA, December 2, 2014 - Few classes of drugs have had such a transformative effect on the prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) as have statins, prescribed to reduce total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. However, some clinicians have ongoing concerns regarding the potential for lens opacities (cataracts) as a result of statin use. In an article in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology, researchers report increased risk for cataracts in patients treated with statins. An accompanying editorial discusses the history of statins and positions this new study in the context of conflicting results from previous analyses of purported adverse effects due to statin use.
In previous studies the association between statin use and cataracts has been inconsistent and controversial. The current study used data from the British Columbia (BC) Ministry of Health databases from 2000-2007 and the IMS LifeLink U.S. database from 2001-2011 to form two patient cohorts. The BC cohort was composed of female and male patients; 162,501 cases were matched with 650,004 controls. The IMS LifeLink cohort was comprised of males only, aged 40-85; 45,065 cases were matched with 450,650 controls. Patients using statins for more than a year prior to initial ophthalmology examination were identified. Diagnosis and surgical management of cataracts were followed.
In the BC cohort, there was about a 27% increased risk of developing cataracts requiring surgical intervention (Adjusted Risk Ratio, RR =1.27). In the IMS cohort, the increased risk was only 7%, but still statistically significant.
The adjusted RRs for long-term regular use of specific statins in the BC cohort ranged from 1.14 to 1.42. In the IMS cohort, the adjusted RRs for individual statins varied within a narrow range from 1.03 to 1.14. The investigators did not determine whether certain statins were worse than others, but most confidence intervals overlapped suggesting a class effect.
Lead investigator G.B. John Mancini, MD, of the Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, states that, "Further assessment of the clinical impact of this relationship is recommended, especially given increased statin use for primary prevention of CVD and the importance of acceptable vision in old age where CVD is common. Future studies addressing the possible underlying mechanisms to explain this association are also warranted. However, because the RR is low and because cataract surgery is both effective and well tolerated, this association should be disclosed but not be considered a deterrent to use of statins when warranted for CV risk reduction."
In an accompanying editorial, Steven Gryn, MD, FRCPC, and Robert A. Hegele, MD, FRCPC, of the Department of Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada, echo the need for balance.
They write, "Any medication that has beneficial effects has potential adverse effects; weighing the benefits against the risks is an integral part of the informed consent process, and is central to any decision to initiate treatment. Among patients who are at high CVD risk, like most of those seen by cardiologists...the prevention of CVD, stroke, and their associated morbidity and mortality vastly outweighs the risk of cataracts. Even among lower risk patients, for whom the benefit-risk ratio is less dramatic, most patients would still probably prefer having to undergo earlier non-life-threatening cataract surgery over suffering a major vascular event."
In any observational study, there can be unknown confounders that could introduce bias. Both the study itself and the commentary note this weakness, but both agree that this study, while not putting the issue to rest, does add significantly to the accumulated knowledge about the statin-cataract connection. However, as Dr. Hegele notes, "A randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled clinical trial is the best way to mitigate confounding, and such studies so far have shown no association of statins with cataracts."
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SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Dec. 2, 2014 - Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MYGN) today announced that clinical data from three studies with Prolaris in prostate cancer patients will be highlighted at the 2014 Society of Urologic Oncology (SUO) Annual Meeting being held tomorrow in Rockville, Md. The new data show that the Prolaris test could save the healthcare system $6 billion over 10 years and that physicians are using the test appropriately to personalize treatment options for their patients.
"Improving patient care is our highest priority, and we strive to prevent the ...
With the help of citizen scientists, a team of astronomers has found an important new example of a very rare type of galaxy that may yield valuable insight on how galaxies developed in the early Universe. The new discovery technique promises to give astronomers many more examples of this important and mysterious type of galaxy.
The galaxy they studied, named J1649+2635, nearly 800 million light-years from Earth, is a spiral galaxy, like our own Milky Way, but with prominent "jets" of subatomic particles propelled outward from its core at nearly the speed of light. The ...
CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Today's atmosphere likely bears little trace of its primordial self: Geochemical evidence suggests that Earth's atmosphere may have been completely obliterated at least twice since its formation more than 4 billion years ago. However, it's unclear what interplanetary forces could have driven such a dramatic loss.
Now researchers at MIT, Hebrew University, and Caltech have landed on a likely scenario: A relentless blitz of small space rocks, or planetesimals, may have bombarded Earth around the time the moon was formed, kicking up clouds of gas with enough ...
This news release is available in French. Montreal, December 2, 2014 -- "Selfish" may be the adjective most often attached to millennials. But new research from Concordia University shows that the young men and women who make up the millennial generation aren't so self-centred when it comes to supporting charities -- as long as marketers use the right tactics for each gender.
The forthcoming study in The Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing confirms stereotypes and reveals an important paradox. When asked to support charitable causes, millennials -- those ...
INDIANAPOLIS -- Researchers from the Regenstrief Institute and the Indiana University Center for Aging Research report that waking intensive care unit patients and having them breathe on their own decreased both sedation levels and coma prevalence. The Wake Up and Breathe program also showed a trend toward reduced delirium in a critically ill population.
Participants in the study, which is published in the December 2014 issue of the peer-reviewed journal Critical Care Medicine, were 702 Eskenazi Health ICU patients 18 and older. Results were achieved without a change ...
International research led by the University of Leicester published in Nature Communications reveals:
Analysis of all the available evidence confirms identity of King Richard III to the point of 99.999% (at its most conservative).
Analysis of the mitochondrial DNA shows a match between Richard III and modern female-line relatives, Michael Ibsen and Wendy Duldig.
The male line of descent is broken at one or more points in the line between Richard III and living male-line relatives descended from Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort.
King Richard was almost certainly ...
RIVERSIDE, Calif. - First developed in China in about the year A.D. 150, paper has many uses, the most common being for writing and printing upon. Indeed, the development and spread of civilization owes much to paper's use as writing material.
According to some surveys, 90 percent of all information in businesses today is retained on paper, even though the bulk of this printed paper is discarded after just one-time use.
Such waste of paper (and ink cartridges)--not to mention the accompanying environmental problems such as deforestation and chemical pollution to air, ...
Health is high on the agenda in many countries with efforts to get more people exercising in order to reduce the problems associated with obesity, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Unfortunately, risk assessment is inadequate in terms of sports facilities and many fitness programs rely on the participants taking out insurance and signing legal waivers rather than their being taught safe practices and given a safe environment in which to exercise.
Writing in the International Journal of Business Continuity and Risk Management, Betul Sekendiz, School ...
This news release is available in French.
"So far, there is no other theory that we find more compelling," says Philippe Gillet, director of EPFL's Earth and Planetary Sciences Laboratory. He and his colleagues from China, Japan and Germany performed a detailed analysis of organic carbon traces from a Martian meteorite, and have concluded that they have a very probable biological origin. The scientists argue that carbon could have been deposited into the fissures of the rock when it was still on Mars by the infiltration of fluid that was rich in organic matter.
Ejected ...
HUNTSVILLE, TX 12/2/14 -- Human sex trafficking is a serious problem both domestically and internationally and enhanced education is necessary to address the risk factors for entry into the sex trade, the physical and mental health consequences of victimization, and institutional responses to victims, according to a new series published by the Crime Victims' Institute at Sam Houston State University.
"Human Sex Trafficking: An Overview" by Lindsay Ashworth and Cortney Franklin, Ph.D., reports that estimates on prevalence of sex trafficking victims are difficult to establish ...
