Statins may worsen heart failure for some

Wednesday, November 4, 2009 (canstar) - it is well known that cholesterol-lowering statins may benefit patients with heart disease, but a new study suggests that they can to harm some people with heart failure.

Heart disease can occur when arteries become clogged, but in heart failure, the heart gets progressively more weak and larger.

Still, since the study included a small number of patients and looked at a single point in time, it is too early to say if the findings have implications for heart failure patients taking statins, according to the principal of Lawrence P. Cahalin, PhD, of Northeastern University, Boston. Cahalin presented his findings Tuesday at the American College of Chest Physicians in San Diego annual meeting.

Tamara Horwich, MD, assistant professor of medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles, accepts that the results should be interpreted with caution. I just don "t think we can draw conclusions about Statins have benefits to the adverse effects in some patients," says Dr. Horwich, who was not involved in the study of the Cahalin.

In heart failure, the struggles of hypertrophy of the heart to pump enough blood, which can cause fluid to collect in branches and the lungs, resulting in shortness of breath and fatigue. However, one type of failure heart, systolic, occurs when the lower chambers of the heart may conclude a contract with sufficient force to blood drive in the body.

In the other type, diastolic heart failure, cardiac muscle is so rigid that it can relax is no longer enough to fill with blood between beats. About half of people with heart failure have systolic; the other half have diastolic, which becomes more common with age and is more likely to strike women.

About 5 million Americans have heart failure.

Currently, there is no guidelines on the question of whether patients with heart failure should take statins. Some studies have shown that they can be useful, while others have found no benefit. The decision to prescribe these drugs is generally based on the patient's cholesterol levels, age, and if there also coronary heart disease, according to Dr. Horwich.

"It is not a consensus," she said. "It is the physician individual to make a decision."

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