JAMA reports examine whether statins prevent death in high-risk individuals without heart disease; and increased CV risk with rosiglitazone, but anoth

A meta-analysis of previously published studies finds no evidence that statins are associated with a reduced risk of death among individuals at risk for but with no history of cardiovascular disease, according to a report in the June 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)/Archives journals.

"Statins are now one of the most widely used drugs for the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease both among individuals with established disease and among high-risk healthy individuals who are at elevated risk of incident [new-onset] cardiovascular disease," the authors write as background information in the article. "There is little debate that, compared with placebo, statin therapy among individuals with established coronary heart disease not only prevents complications related to atherosclerosis but also reduces all-cause mortality [death]." However, there is little evidence that statins reduce the risk of dying from any cause in individuals without heart disease. This, along with harms caused by statins in some subgroups, have called into question the benefit of statins in primary prevention (prevention of the development of heart disease), the authors state.

In the meta-analysis, researchers at the University of Cambridge and Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, England, and colleagues combined data from 11 studies involving 65,229 participants. A total of 32,623 individuals were assigned to take statins and 32,606 individuals were assigned to take placebo. Some data about participant deaths was obtained from the originally published studies, whereas in other cases, study investigators were contacted for updated information.