Statins associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk

This study was published in Atherosclerosis 2011 Dec;219(2):728-33

 

Study title and authors:

Association of lower total bilirubin level with statin usage: the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2008.

Ong KL, Wu BJ, Cheung BM, Barter PJ, Rye KA.

Lipid Research Group, Heart Research Institute, 7 Eliza Street, Newtown, Sydney, NSW 2042, Australia. ongk@hri.org.au

 

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21840000

Low levels of bilirubin are associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk see here, here and here.

This study investigated the effect of statins on bilirubin levels. The study included data from 3,290 subjects with a history of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

The study found that
(a) Those taking statins had lower total bilirubin levels than those not taking any cholesterol-lowering medication.
(b) Those taking lovastatin, rosuvastatin, and cerivastatin had the lowest bilirubin levels.

The data from the study shows that statins are associated with lower bilirubin levels, which is a marker for increased cardiovascular disease risk.