Statins Reduce the Risk of Getting Gallstones

Statins are the ‘aspirin’ of the last decades – they can help treat or prevent a huge number of ailments.  Just enter ‘statins’ into the search box on the right, and you’ll get the idea.  Most recently, a report has come out that could have been predicted, based from the way statins work.  Swiss epidemiologists, using British data, have shown that statin users have a lower risk of developing gallstones.  As 80% of gallstone cases have stones that consist of hardened pellets of cholesterol, the result was not too surprising.  The report is in the Journal of the American Medical Association. 

The study compared 27,000 people who had a cholecystectomy for gallstones with 106,500 controls, who had no gallstones and were matched by age, sex, family practice, and approximate dates with the surgery cases.  Statin medication, including duration of use, was determined.

There were 11,250 subjects who took statins, with 2,400 of them in the cholecystectomy group.  In those with gallstones, there was a reduction in the need for surgery depending on how long they had taken a statin.  For instance, in those who had taken between 5 and 19 statin prescriptions, the risk of gallstone disease followed by surgery was 85% that of those with non-statin use;  after 20 or more prescriptions (probably about 1½ years) the likelihood falls to 64%.  Further analyses showed that the benefit occurred with any statin, and the effect increased with higher doses.

Obviously, taking a stain is not indicated just to help prevent gallstones.  Rather, it’s a beneficial ‘side-effect’ in those patients who need to take this type of drug for other, approved indications.