BBC expert provides update on statins on their impact on health

Massive research study yields results and Dr Oscar Duke says ‘it’s really important to think about it’

A BBC expert has given his verdict on major research into statins and their impact on potentially serious health problems. Statins are a class of prescription medications used to lower blood cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

New research published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology suggests that taking cholesterol-lowering statins is associated with a lower risk of developing open-angle glaucoma and a reduced need for intensive treatments or surgery.

Appearing on BBC Morning Live, Dr Oscar Duke said: “I always want to remain hopeful as someone who doesn’t have much sight to lose. Um, anything that can help would be fantastic. And glaucoma is one of those diseases that we don’t have a cure for, but we potentially have great treatments. So a lot can be done. But what about statins? Well, we know that statins are really effective for lower cholesterol, reducing our risk of heart attacks and strokes But can they help us with glaucoma?

Dr Duke said the results came from a large study of more than 200,000 people: “It’s a study that was done in the United States in California. And what they did was they followed people, 210,000 people, looked at their data, those who were taking statins, and then compared them to 210,000 people who weren’t taking statins.

“They found that if you took a statin over a five-year period, your risk of glaucoma was reduced by 15%. Now there are some caveats to this. So this is one of those studies that can show an association but not a specific cause as I often say. So it’s very important to think about that. We don’t know for sure that it’s the statin that’s the cause. Long, over 10 years, there was a slightly less reduction in glaucoma in people taking statins.

He added that studies have shown that if you take statins for a long time, it could very slightly increase the risk of glaucoma.

Dr. Duke said: “The honest answer is that it’s interesting. We don’t know exactly what that relationship is. It certainly doesn’t mean that we have enough evidence at the moment to say that if you take a statin you won’t have glaucoma or it will significantly reduce your risk. But the study also showed that those who had glaucoma and were taking statins were less likely to need strong treatments.”

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“So they talked in the film about taking a few drops first and maybe doing laser treatments. You’re less likely to need to go to that level or even higher levels of surgical treatments if you’re taking statins. So I think what’s going to happen is more research will be done. We’ll do a formal study to really evaluate that over time and hopefully we’ll find a link that we can use because statins overall are a very safe treatment for most people.

Researchers and future randomized trials were needed to study the effects of statins on the development and treatment of glaucoma. Those taking statins also had a 60% lower risk of undergoing selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) and an 11% lower risk of needing eye drops to reduce pressure in the eye. The lowest risk persisted after ten years.

Statins are widely used to lower cholesterol, and previous research has suggested that they may also prevent or slow nerve cell death. However, other studies have linked long-term statin use to increased eye pressure and an increased risk of glaucoma.