Use Of Statins May Decrease Risk of Death From Pneumonia

Statins or ACE inhibitors prescribed for lowering cholesterol and blood pressure levels have been found to reduce the mortality rate in older adults who have been hospitalized for pneumonia.

The study was reported in the European Respiratory Journal

The study found that pneumonia sufferers who were taking these statins or ACE inhibitors reduced the thirty day mortality rate from nearly 50% to 20%. The effects of the drugs reducing this number is unclear, although the research suggests that the use of these agents may also cut risk of the death from various infections.

This was not the first study to look at the affect of statins on pneumonia, but was one of the largest to date that tried to examine whether the use of statins could be used to protect patients against flu. The research of this study matched the results from the previous studies in terms of outcome, but did show the surprising finding that statins may reduce mortality during flu season.

The patients used in the study were at least 65 years of age and hospitalized with pneumonia. Ten percent of the patients died within the first month of being hospitalized and overall nearly 35%  used ACE inhibitors while more than 15% used statins. From this study doctors have learned that patients hospitalized for infectious disease should continue taking their stains unless there is a contraindication in their care.