Statins Offer Relief from Chronic Lung Disease

Statins, drugs commonly used to lower cholesterol levels, now offer another health benefit. A new study discovered that the drug brings relief to those suffering from chronic lung disease.

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have highlighted the therapeutic potential of the cholesterol lowering drugs, statins, in treating patients suffering from inflammatory lung condition called bronchiectasis.

Bronchiectasis involves abnormal widening of the bronchial tubes. This disease affects nearly one in every 1000 British adults. This condition can be life threatening in some people and symptoms include chronic coughing, excessive phlegm production and continuous chest infection.  What really causes this condition is unclear but it has mostly been associated with serious lung infection in childhood. These lung infections include pneumonia or whooping cough that causes damage to the airways.

But scientists are turning toward statins, which are prescribed for people at risk of heart attack. Scientists are looking at whether the drug has any anti-inflammatory effects.

The researchers discovered that a high dose of statins taken daily for over six months led to a significant improvement in coughing in about 12-30 patients. After six months of treatment with statins, the patients had better tolerance towards gentle exercise and also could walk further than they could before the onset of the treatment. The patients had reduced inflammation in their airways.

Out of the total number of patients taking statins, six stopped taking the drug before the completion of the study as they suffered from side effects such as headache.

This study suggests the use of statins as an alternative to long-term antibiotic treatment that increases the risk of infections from strains of bacteria that include MRSA and C.difficile.

Dr Pallavi Mandal, a Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, who led the study said, "There are few effective treatments for bronchiectasis so these are encouraging findings. Larger studies are now needed to find out whether statins could be useful as a long-term treatment option for patients with this disease."

The finding was published in the journal Lancet Respiratory Medicine.