Many seniors with chronic kidney disease also take cholesterol-lowering drugs
of ConsumerAffairsMany older people develop chronic kidney disease and are also likely to be on cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins. There has been speculation that the statins could interfere with kidney function but a new study finds that's not the case.
A University of Iowa research teamexamined the association between statin use in older adults and changes in two important indicators of kidney function estimated glomerular filtration rate and urine albumin-to-creatinine (protein-to-waste) ratio.
The data supports the kidney safety of statins in older adults with or without chronic kidney disease, the authors write. They suggest that the decision to use a statin for other indications should not be limited by concerns related to potential kidney harm.
About the study
The researchers used data collected from a previous research trial that studied use of daily low-dose aspirin in more than 18,000 older adults from the United States and Australia between 2010 and 2017. Among that population, one in five participants had chronic kidney disease. The median age was 76 in participants with chronic kidney disease and 74 in those without.
Examining the data, the Iowa researchers found statin use did not improve kidney function, as had been hypothesized in some previous scientific studies. The drugs also had no ill effects.
Statins are commonly prescribed to older adults to help lower the risk of heart disease.
While older adults are at greatest risk of cardiovascular events and kidney function decline, they are also the population at highest risk of adverse effects from medications; therefore, evidence demonstrating no negative association between statin use and kidney function provides an equally important message to one of kidney benefit, the authors wrote.
Thestudy, Effects of statins on kidney function in older adults, was published online on Dec. 18 in theJournal of the American Geriatrics Society.The research team was led by clinical professors MichelleFraveland MichaelErnst, in the College of Pharmacy,
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Posted: 2025-01-27 23:33:20
