One group represented vets who were taking high statin doses, one group had veterans who took medium to low doses, of the drug, and the last group had vets that didn’t take any statins.
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Statins have often been linked with a 35 percent lower risk of heart attack and premature death.
Narrowed leg arteries have been dubbed the next cardiovascular epidemic.
People suffering from narrowed leg arteries have a severe risk of amputation, however, a new study published by the School of Medicine at Emory University, Atlanta, suggested that statins and drugs designed for lowering cholesterol may help reduce this risk.
The study researchers have identified patients into three groups- those taking high doses of statins, low to moderate statins doses and no strains. It suggests patients with PAD to consider placement on statins in high dose.
The findings of the study were presented at the American Heart Association meeting in Nashville.
The treatment might be right only as long as they can tolerate it, along with anti-platelet therapy, walking program, smoking cessation and other medical management used to lower the risk of death and amputation.
PAD is prevalent in 12 to 20 percent of individuals who are over 60 years old and according to figures released by CDC the disease affects about 8 million people.
Statins, are tremendously popular cholesterol-lowering drugs that can lower the risk of cardiovascular incidents such as heart attacks or strokes in patients. The researchers compared these patients with those who did not take statins.
The research, not yet published in a peer-reviewed journal, studied more than 208,000 PAD patients who take high doses of statins over 5.2 year and compared them to those who did not take the cholesterol-lowering medication. The condition is often caused by fatty plaque buildup in the arteries and more often occurs in the legs than in the arms.
Dr. Arya and her research team examined health information collected from over 200,000 veterans suffering from peripheral artery disease. Patients taking a moderate to low dose were 22 percent less likely than the control group to experience amputation or death.
Patients who can tolerate the therapy are also recommended to quit smoking and get involved in walking programs and antiplatelet therapies. The ones from the second group were also taking the drug but in a lower dosage, whereas the third group consisted of veterans who were not taking any statins at all.
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According to a report in HNGN by Tyler MacDonald, “The results revealed that PAD patients taking high doses of statins were at a 33 percent lower risk of amputation and 29 percent lower risk of death compared to those taking no statins”. The participants from the first group were taking high amounts of statins.
