Statins reduce risk of dying from pneumonia

Study results suggest that people who are taking statins are more likely to survive if they are hospitalized with pneumonia.

Dr Reimar Thomson and colleagues analyzed data from 29,900 adults hospitalized with pneumonia. 1,371, or 4.6%, of participants were taking statins at the time of admission to hospital.

Results showed that the death rate for patients taking statins at the time of admission was 10.3% after 30 days, compared with 15.7% for patients not taking the cholesterol-lowering drugs. At 90 days, the death rate for patients taking statins was 16.8%, compared with 22.4% in those who were not.

The authors conclude: "The differences became apparent during the first few weeks of hospitalization, a period associated with a high number of pneumonia-related deaths, and they increased only minimally between 30 and 90 days after admission, which suggests that statin use is beneficial, primarily in the early phase of infection. The decrease in mortality associated with statin use seems to be substantial in patients with pneumonia requiring hospital admission. Our study adds to the accumulating evidence that statin use is associated with improved prognosis after severe infections."  

Thomsen RW, Riis A, Kornum JB, Christensen S, Johnsen SP, Sørensen HT. preadmission use of statins and outcomes after hospitalization with pneumonia. Arch Intern Med. 2008;168:2081-2087.