Coronavirus has infected more than 40 million people around the world and has caused more than a million deaths in less than a year.
Coronavirus has infected more than 40 million people around the world and has caused more than a million deaths in less than a year. Moreover, it is still not clear why some people who contract the virus show no symptoms whereas others may die or suffer very severe consequences. Although age, illnesses and previous treatments can be used to give a prognosis in some cases, it is still not possible to state for certain how each case of coronavirus will evolve. One of the treatments that have been discussed in regard to their role in the evolution of COVID-19 has been statins. This drug helps to reduce cholesterol in the blood and thus prevent cardiovascular diseases. It is currently taken by one in four people and is the most widely used medicine among the general public. Now, a research by the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) and Pere Virgili Institut (IISPV) led by Lluís Masana has found that people who are being treated with statins have a 22% to 25% lower risk of dying from COVID-19. The research results have been published in the European Heart Journal – Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy.
The study was carried out through the Network of Lipid and Arteriosclerosis Units of Catalonia and collected information from 2,159 patients infected with SARS-COv-2 from 19 hospitals in Catalonia during the first wave of the pandemic from March to May. The researcher evaluated one hundred clinical variables per patient such as age, sex, previous illnesses, cholesterol levels, evolution of the virus, treatments used for COVID-19, and so on. The researchers then compared death rates of patients being treated with statins with death rates among those who were not and they also analysed the effect of withdrawing statins when the patient was admitted to hospital. “In our comparison, we adjusted the groups so that they were comparable in terms of age, sex and the existence of earlier illnesses”, explained Masana, who has coordinated the study from the Lipid and Arteriosclerosis Research Unit at the URV’s Department of Medicine and Surgery, which is a member of the CIBERDEM Network bringing together research groups working on diabetes and metabolism in Spain. Masana is also a researcher at the Sant Joan University Hospital in Reus.
Read more at Universitat Rovira i Virgili
Image: The researcher Lluís Masana has led the study. (Credit: URV)
