Statins: anti-cholesterol treatment has no effect on the kidneys

More than 200 million people worldwide take statins. However, this highly used anti-cholesterol medication has aroused distrust in recent years. Questioning the effects of treatment on the kidneys, researchers at the University of Iowa note that the treatment does not impact the renal function.

Statins: no effect on renal function

Scientists have, more specifically, examined the association between the use of statins in the elderly and the changes of two indicators of the renal function: the glomerular filtration rate (that is to say the quantity of blood that The kidneys can filter per minute) and the albumin/urinary creatinine relationship.

To achieve this, they resumed data from a previous trial having studied the daily use of low-dose aspirin in more than 18,000 elderly people from the United States and Australia between 2010 and 2017. By analyzing the files of Volunteers, the team noted that the use of statins did not improve the renal function, as had previously supposed to have certain works. In addition, these drugs had also had any harmful effects on the kidneys.

Statins are safe for the kidneys

“Data confirm the renal safety of statins in the elderly affected or not of a chronic kidney disease”assure the authors in their article published in the review Journal of the American Gériatrics Society Last December. So, for them, “The decision to use a stature for other indications should not be limited by concerns related to potential kidney damage. “

“Although the elderly present the greatest risk of cardiovascular events and decline in kidney function, they also constitute the population most exposed to the undesirable effects of drugs”recall scientists. “Consequently, the evidence demonstrating the absence of a negative association between the use of statins and the renal function provide a message just as important as that of the benefits for the kidneys”they conclude in their press release.