Statins offer 30% lower risk of COPD exacerbation

A new retrospective case-control study among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) found a 30% decreased risk of COPD exacerbation with any statin use.

The study  published in the July 2013, issue of the American Journal of Medicine, was led by M.T. Wang from the School of Pharmacy at the National Defense Medical Center in Taipei, Taiwan. “Statin use was associated with a reduced risk of COPD exacerbation, with a future risk reduction for statins prescribed more recently or at high doses,” Wang wrote.

This is the first study to examine the recency and duration effect of statin use on the risk of COPD exacerbations, according to the researchers.

Using a national health insurance claims database in Taiwan, the researchers reviewed the medical history of more than 14,300 COPD patients. They found that current use of statins was associated with a greater reduced risk of COPD exacerbation (adjusted odds ratio of .60). The protective effect of statins on COPD exacerbations is more profound for statins used for six months, or for statins prescribed at medium or high average daily dose, the researchers found. Still, the reduced risk remained significant for either short or long duration of statin use.