Treatment with a statin drug - such as Lipitor or Zocor - significantly reduces the risk of cardiac and non-cardiac death in people on hemodialysis, investigators report.

They say these observational data suggest that “more frequent use of statins may lead to significant improvements in dialysis patient outcomes.”

In the study, Dr. Nancy A. Mason from the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy in Ann Arbor and colleagues analyzed statin prescription patterns and associated outcomes in 7365 dialysis patients being followed in an international study

Participants who were prescribed statin therapy had a 31 percent lower likelihood of dying over a period of about 5 years compared with those not prescribed statin therapy, the researchers report in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases.

Statins were associated with a 23 percent lower risk of cardiac death and a “remarkable” 44 percent lower risk of non-cardiac death, the team points out.

They note that emerging evidence hints that statins, in addition to lowering cholesterol, also have anti-inflammatory effects and other properties. “It is possible that these effects could be of specific benefit in the clinical setting of dialysis and could contribute to the noncardiac mortality reduction,” they suggest.

Of concern to the researchers, however, is the finding that only 12 percent of patients were prescribed statins. Even among patients with seemingly clear reasons for statin therapy, such as High cholesterol, only 16 percent to 22 percent were given a prescription for a statin, they report.

However, this could be due to the fact that data collection for the study occurred in early 2000 when there was a lack of solid information on the benefits of statins for people on dialysis.

“Although evidence is sparse, the proven benefits of statin therapy in the general population and the extremely high cardiovascular risk present in dialysis patients has prompted the current recommendations for statin use in dialysis patients,” Mason’s group writes.

SOURCE: American Journal of Kidney Diseases, January 2005.