Claim: Statins tied to lower risk of fatal prostate cancer
Verdict: SUPPORTS

Retrieved passages:
title: Rahul Potluri
text: presented at the European Society of Cardiology, Frontiers in Cardiovascular Biology Conference in Barcelona, July 2014 and was widely reported in the global media. Further research presented in 2016 showed the role of high cholesterol and possibly the role of statins improving the mortality and survival of patients with breast cancer, lung cancer, bowel cancer and prostate cancer and strengthening calls for a clinical trial of statins in cancer. Potluri presented research from the ACALM Study Unit at the European Society of Cardiology Conference in London, August 2015, which showed that heart attack patients admitted at the weekend died earlier

title: Statin
text: and possibly prostate cancer. They appear to have no effect on the risk of lung cancer, kidney cancer, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, or bladder cancer. Combining any statin with a fibrate or niacin (other categories of lipid-lowering drugs) increases the risks for rhabdomyolysis to almost 6.0 per 10,000 person-years. Monitoring liver enzymes and creatine kinase is especially prudent in those on high-dose statins or in those on statin/fibrate combinations, and mandatory in the case of muscle cramps or of deterioration in kidney function. Consumption of grapefruit or grapefruit juice inhibits the metabolism of certain statins. Bitter oranges may have a

title: Cardiovascular disease
text: with high blood pressure require more than one drug to achieve adequate reduction in blood pressure. Statins are effective in preventing further cardiovascular disease in people with a history of cardiovascular disease. As the event rate is higher in men than in women, the decrease in events is more easily seen in men than women. In those at risk, but without a history of cardiovascular disease (primary prevention), statins decrease the risk of death and combined fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular disease. The benefit, however, is small. A United States guideline recommends statins in those who have a 12% or greater

title: Statin
text: in the number of cardiac events (heart attack, sudden cardiac death) and a 17% reduced risk of stroke after long-term treatment. A greater benefit is observed with high-intensity statin therapy. They have less effect than the fibrates or niacin in reducing triglycerides and raising HDL-cholesterol ("good cholesterol"). Statins have been studied for improving operative outcomes in cardiac and vascular surgery. Mortality and adverse cardiovascular events were reduced in statin groups. While no direct comparison exists, all statins appear effective regardless of potency or degree of cholesterol reduction. There do appear to be some differences between them, with simvastatin and pravastatin

title: Statin
text: factors for coronary heart disease included abnormal lipid levels in the blood, diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure, and smoking. The risk of heart disease is estimated using the ACC/AHA Pooled Cohort equation. They recommended selective use of low-to-moderate doses statins in the same adults who have a calculated 10-year cardiovascular disease event risk of 7.5–10% or greater. Most evidence suggests that statins are effective in preventing heart disease in those with high cholesterol, but no history of heart disease. A 2013 Cochrane review found a decrease in risk of death and other poor outcomes without any evidence of harm. For

title: Statin
text: other pleiotropic cardiovascular benefits of statins, as well as in the fact that a number of other drugs that lower LDL have not shown the same cardiovascular risk benefits in studies as statins, and may also account for certain of the benefits seen in cancer reduction with statins. In addition, the inhibitory effect on protein prenylation may also be involved in a number of unwanted side effects associated with statins, including muscle pain (myopathy) and elevated blood sugar (diabetes). As noted above, statins exhibit action beyond lipid-lowering activity in the prevention of atherosclerosis. The ASTEROID trial showed direct ultrasound evidence

title: Statin
text: as fluvastatin, rosuvastatin, and pravastatin, are less toxic than lipophilic statins, such as atorvastatin, lovastatin, and simvastatin, but other studies have not found a connection. Lovastatin induces the expression of gene "atrogin-1", which is believed to be responsible in promoting muscle fiber damage. Tendon rupture does not appear to occur. The relationship between statin use and risk of developing diabetes remains unclear and the results of systematic reviews and meta-analyses are mixed. Higher doses have a greater effect, but the decrease in cardiovascular disease outweighs the risk of developing diabetes. Use in postmenopausal women is associated with an increased risk

title: Statin
text: of atheroma regression during statin therapy. Researchers hypothesize that statins prevent cardiovascular disease via four proposed mechanisms (all subjects of a large body of biomedical research): In 2008, the JUPITER study showed benefit in those who had no history of high cholesterol or heart disease, but only elevated C-reactive protein levels. The conclusions of this study are, however, controversial. The statins are divided into two groups: fermentation-derived and synthetic. They include, along with brand names, which may vary between countries: LDL-lowering potency varies between agents. Cerivastatin is the most potent, (withdrawn from the market in August, 2001 due to risk

title: Hypercholesterolemia
text: women. Statins can reduce total cholesterol by about 50% in the majority of people. While statins are effective in decreasing mortality in those who have had previous cardiovascular disease, debate exists over whether or not they are effective in those with high cholesterol but no other health problems. One review did not find a mortality benefit in those at high risk, but without prior cardiovascular disease. Other reviews concluded a mortality benefit does exist. Greater benefit is observed with the use of high-intensity statin therapy . Statins may improve quality of life when used in people without existing cardiovascular disease

title: Heart Protection Study
text: one cardiovascular "event" (in those taking the drug simvastatin for 5 years). There was no mortality benefit in women with a statistical "p-value" that did not reach significance (0.08) while the Kaplan-Meier mortality curves, for men and women separately, have not been published as of 2016. Cancer risk was not significantly lower in the treatment group; in fact, there was no difference except for non-melanoma skin cancers, wherein the placebo group had a barely-significant lower risk of diagnosis. No worsening of lung disease was found, an initial concern with statin drugs, and simvastatin did not decrease osteoporosis. Heart Protection Study

title: Statin
text: for diabetes. The exact mechanism responsible for the possible increased risk of diabetes mellitus associated with statin use is unclear. Statins are thought to decrease cells' uptake of glucose from the bloodstream in response to the hormone insulin. One way this is thought to occur is by interfering with cholesterol synthesis which is necessary for the production of certain proteins responsible for glucose uptake into cells such as GLUT1. Several meta-analyses have found no increased risk of cancer, and some meta-analyses have found a reduced risk. Statins may reduce the risk of esophageal cancer, colorectal cancer, gastric cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma,

title: Statin
text: by at least 50%, and recommend statins for patients who will not benefit, based on populations whose observed risk is lower than predicted by the guidelines. The European Society of Cardiology and the European Atherosclerosis Society recommend the use of statins for primary prevention, depending on baseline estimated cardiovascular score and LDL thresholds. Statins are effective in decreasing mortality in people with pre-existing cardiovascular disease. They are also advocated for use in people at high risk of developing coronary heart disease. On average, statins can lower LDL cholesterol by 1.8 mmol/l (70 mg/dl), which translates into an estimated 60% decrease

title: Statin
text: Statin Statins, also known as HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, are a class of lipid-lowering medications. Statins have been found to reduce cardiovascular disease and mortality in those who are at high risk of cardiovascular disease. The evidence is strong that statins are effective for treating cardiovascular disease in the early stages of the disease (secondary prevention) and in those at elevated risk but without cardiovascular disease (primary prevention). Side effects of statins include muscle pain, increased risk of diabetes mellitus, and abnormalities in liver enzyme tests. Additionally, they have rare but severe adverse effects, particularly muscle damage. They inhibit the enzyme

title: Statin
text: Cleveland Clinic commented "We are losing the battle for the hearts and minds of our patients to Web sites..." promoting unproven medical therapies. Harriet Hall sees a spectrum of "statin denialism" ranging from pseudoscientific claims to the understatement of benefits and overstatement of side effects, all of which is contrary to the scientific evidence. Clinical studies have been conducted on the use of statins in dementia, lung cancer, nuclear cataracts, hypertension, and prostate cancer. Statin Statins, also known as HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, are a class of lipid-lowering medications. Statins have been found to reduce cardiovascular disease and mortality in those

title: Statin
text: is the main constituent of atheroma, the fatty lumps in the wall of arteries that occur in atherosclerosis and, when ruptured, cause the vast majority of heart attacks. Treatment consisted mainly of dietary measures, such as a low-fat diet, and poorly tolerated medicines, such as clofibrate, cholestyramine, and nicotinic acid. Cholesterol researcher Daniel Steinberg writes that while the Coronary Primary Prevention Trial of 1984 demonstrated cholesterol lowering could significantly reduce the risk of heart attacks and angina, physicians, including cardiologists, remained largely unconvinced. To market statins effectively, Merck had to convince the public of the dangers of high cholesterol, and

title: Statin
text: every 138 people treated for 5 years one fewer dies and for every 49 treated one fewer has an episode of heart disease. A 2011 review reached similar conclusions. And a 2012 review found benefits in both women and men. A 2010 review concluded that treating people with no history of cardiovascular disease reduces cardiovascular events in men but not women, and provides no mortality benefit in either sex. Two other meta-analyses published that year, one of which used data obtained exclusively from women, found no mortality benefit in primary prevention. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)

title: James Shepherd (biochemist)
text: and was to become the principal investigator in the West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Study (WOSCOPS), examining the levels of fat in the blood. From this double-blind controlled trial, he and his colleagues were to make a break-through discovery in that cholesterol-lowering statins reduce the risk of first heart attack rather than just the benefits in these being administered to patients who had already experienced a heart attack. The results of the WOSCOPS study and trial were simultaneously presented at the Annual Conference of the American Heart Association (November, 1995) and in The New England Journal of Medicine. The study

title: Statin
text: doctors that statins were safe and would extend lives. As a result of public campaigns, people in the United States became familiar with their cholesterol numbers and the difference between "good" and "bad" cholesterol, and rival pharmaceutical companies began producing their own statins, such as pravastatin (Pravachol), manufactured by Sankyo and Bristol-Myers Squibb. In April 1994, the results of a Merck-sponsored study, the Scandinavian Simvastatin Survival Study, were announced. Researchers tested simvastatin, later sold by Merck as Zocor, on 4,444 patients with high cholesterol and heart disease. After five years, the study concluded the patients saw a 35% reduction in

title: Atorvastatin
text: and his bosses, Roger Newton and Ronald Cresswell, in 1985 convinced company executives to move the compound into expensive clinical trials. Early results comparing atorvastatin vs. simvastatin demonstrated that atorvastatin was significantly more potent and displayed fewer side effects. In 1994 the findings of a Merck-funded study were published in "The Lancet" concluding the efficacy of statins in lowering cholesterol in 4444 Scandinavian patients proving for the first time not only that a "statin reduced 'bad' LDL cholesterol but also that it led to a sharp drop in fatal heart attacks among patients with heart disease." In 1996 Warner-Lambert entered

title: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
text: higher risk for serious liver injury from statins according to AASLD and EASL. However, even if statins can be used with patients with NASH cirrhosis, they should be avoided in case of decompensated cirrhosis. Statins have also been recommended for use in treating dyslipidemia for patients with NAFLD. According to NICE guidelines, statins can continue to be administered unless liver enzyme levels double within 3 months of starting statins. Treatment with pentoxifylline has demonstrated improvements in the histological appearance of fatty liver tissue under the microscope in many small trials. Obeticholic acid and elafibranor are not recommended as of 2018