Cholesterol-lowering drugs may improve flu survival, study finds
by BDB
Cholesterol-lowering drugs may improve flu survival, study finds
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Friday, October 30, 2009
A new treatment for swine flu might already be on pharmacy shelves cholesterol-lowering statin drugs like Lipitor and Zocor.
A large study found that people who were taking these drugs when they caught seasonal flu and had to be hospitalized were twice as likely to survive than those who were not on such medicines.
This doesn't prove that statins can cure flu, or that starting on them after catching the flu would help. A federal study is under way now to test that. Doctors are optimistic, however, because previous studies also found that statins may improve survival from infectious diseases.
"It's very promising," said the new study's leader, Dr. Ann Thomas of the Oregon Public Health Division. Results were discussed Thursday at an Infectious Diseases Society of America conference in Philadelphia.
Treatment is a crucial issue for swine flu because vaccine is slow to reach the public, and medicines like Tamiflu are being reserved for the sickest patients. Statins have long been known to reduce inflammation along with cholesterol. Much of the damage that flu causes is from inflammation and an overreaction by the immune system as it fights the virus.