Should healthy people take statins too?

sea-maid submitted, created time 1 month 3 weeks (www.nature.com)

The results of a study examining whether a potent cholesterol-lowering drug decreases the risk of heart disease are out. Rosuvastatin was given to 17,802 seemingly healthy people, and their chance of developing heart problems plummeted. The results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, have revealed a number of questions about how to prevent heart attacks. Is exercise and a low-fat diet enough, or should large swathes of the population be prescribed preventative medication? Nature News gets to the heart of the matter.

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Statins Lower Blood Marker for Prostate Cancer

piggy submitted, created time 2 months 1 week (www.healthday.com)

THURSDAY, Oct. 30 (HealthDay News) -- A new study shows that men who take cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins have lower blood levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a biomarker for prostate cancer risk.

That drop in PSA levels doesn't necessarily mean the drugs protect against disease, however, researchers say.

But it's possible that statins may offer some protection against the disease, said Dr. Robert Hamilton, one author of the report in the Oct. 28 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute

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Prostate cancer risk increased in obese men who use statin drugs

Common drugs may combat aging disease

sea-maid submitted, created time 6 months 1 day (www.newscientist.com)

Two common drugs have reversed the effects in mice of progeria, a rare genetic disease that causes premature aging. The drugs have few side effects, so might one day be used to treat children with the disease.

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