Chest
Original ResearchCOPDThe Use of Statins and Lung Function in Current and Former Smokers
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
After obtaining institutional review board approval to conduct the study, all smokers and former smokers seen at the Oklahoma City Veterans Administration hospital in 2005 who underwent least two pulmonary function tests (PFTs) ≥ 6 months apart had their medical records reviewed. Since this was a retrospective study utilizing existing data, the institutional review board waived the requirement for subject consent. Patients with normal baseline spirometry results, a clinical history of asthma,
Results
A total of 1,800 patients underwent pulmonary function testing at the Oklahoma City VA Hospital in 2005. Of those, 555 patients had underwent two or more PFTs, meeting the American Thoracic Society guidelines for acceptability and reproducibility, done at least 6 months apart. One hundred thirty-seven patients were excluded (never smoked, history of asthma, and/or normal baseline spirometry), leaving 418 patients eligible for analysis (414 men and 4 women). Average age was 66.8 ± 9.3 years. Two
Discussion
Statins are one of the most widely used groups of medications. Their primary effect is to lower LDL, as well as the total cholesterol, while increasing the high-density lipoprotein. It is believed that this hypocholesterolemic activity is responsible for their beneficial clinical profile, namely the decrease mortality from cardiovascular disease12 and stroke.1011 However, treatment with statins may provide greater protection than predicted from cholesterol reduction alone.12 It is possible that
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2016, Respiratory InvestigationCitation Excerpt :These findings are consistent with our current results showing an inverse correlation between dyslipidemia and airflow limitation. A recent prospective study demonstrated that simvastatin did not prevent exacerbations in moderate-to-severe COPD [22], and another retrospective study reported that statins might only associate with a reduced risk of exacerbations in COPD patients with coexisting cardiovascular disease [23], although several studies suggested clinical benefits of statins regarding reduction in hospitalizations, decline in lung function, the need for mechanical ventilation, and death in COPD patients [24–26]. A correlation between statin use and airflow limitation was unclear in the present study (Table S6), but the majority of patients with dyslipidemia, among both males and females, were under treatment with statins (Table S5).
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The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.