Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs appear to be associated with reduced risk of recurrent cardiovascular events in men and women, but not with reduced all-cause mortality or stroke in women, according to an analysis.
Statins have been used to lower cholesterol levels for the last 20 years, but most of the clinical trials on the drugs have predominantly enrolled men. Researchers have reported conflicting results on the benefits of statins for women with cardiovascular disease compared with men in secondary cardiovascular disease prevention, according to background information for the study, which appears in the June 25 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Jose Gutierrez, MD, MPH, of Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of 11 clinical trials (with a total of 43,191 participants) to examine whether statin therapy was more effective than placebo in preventing recurrence of cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality in men and women. Researchers also sought to determine the sex-specific effect of statins on the risk of recurrent cardiac and cerebrovascular events.
According to the results, "statin therapy reduced the recurrence rate of any type of cardiovascular event, all-cause mortality, coronary death, any [myocardial infarction], cardiac intervention and any stroke type," the authors wrote.
However, "the stratification by sex showed no statistically significant risk reduction for women taking statins compared with women taking placebo for the reduction of all-cause mortality and any type of stroke."
The researchers also noted that the results underscore the low rate of enrollment of women in cardiovascular prevention clinical trials. The low representation of women, who made up only a fifth of the study sample, limited the strength of their conclusions, they wrote.
"In our results, the benefit associated with statin administration in women did not reach statistical significance compared with placebo in at least two outcomes, all-cause mortality and any stroke type," they wrote. "The reason for this difference is uncertain. One possibility is that the small sample size of women limits the power of the study."
In the big picture, the authors concluded, "this meta-analysis supports the use of statins in women for the secondary prevention of cardiovascular events."
To read the study, visit http://bit.ly/OlRTe6.
Statins have been used to lower cholesterol levels for the last 20 years, but most of the clinical trials on the drugs have predominantly enrolled men. Researchers have reported conflicting results on the benefits of statins for women with cardiovascular disease compared with men in secondary cardiovascular disease prevention, according to background information for the study, which appears in the June 25 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Jose Gutierrez, MD, MPH, of Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of 11 clinical trials (with a total of 43,191 participants) to examine whether statin therapy was more effective than placebo in preventing recurrence of cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality in men and women. Researchers also sought to determine the sex-specific effect of statins on the risk of recurrent cardiac and cerebrovascular events.
According to the results, "statin therapy reduced the recurrence rate of any type of cardiovascular event, all-cause mortality, coronary death, any [myocardial infarction], cardiac intervention and any stroke type," the authors wrote.
However, "the stratification by sex showed no statistically significant risk reduction for women taking statins compared with women taking placebo for the reduction of all-cause mortality and any type of stroke."
The researchers also noted that the results underscore the low rate of enrollment of women in cardiovascular prevention clinical trials. The low representation of women, who made up only a fifth of the study sample, limited the strength of their conclusions, they wrote.
"In our results, the benefit associated with statin administration in women did not reach statistical significance compared with placebo in at least two outcomes, all-cause mortality and any stroke type," they wrote. "The reason for this difference is uncertain. One possibility is that the small sample size of women limits the power of the study."
In the big picture, the authors concluded, "this meta-analysis supports the use of statins in women for the secondary prevention of cardiovascular events."
To read the study, visit http://bit.ly/OlRTe6.
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