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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Statins may help reduce the risk of blood clots in patients with heart disease, new research shows.
More than 2 million Americans develop venous thromboembolism (VTE) every year, which includes blood clots (DVT) and pulmonary embolisms (PE). Cancer patients, people who have recently had surgery and patients who have suffered acute trauma are more often victims of the disease. Now research shows patients with hardening of the arteries, or artherosclerosis, who were administered statins significantly reduced their risk of VTE.
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Researchers from the Albert Einstein Medical Center looked at 593 patients admitted to the hospital for myocardial infarction or ischemic stroke, and found of them, 73 percent were receiving statins. Overall, 73 percent of patients developed VTE. Patients who were given statins were three times less likely to develop VTE than those who were not (8.3 percent versus 26.3 percent).
"Venous thromboembolism leads to significant morbidity, mortality and hospital costs in Americans each year," Kalpalatha Guntupalli, M.D., President of the American College of Chest Physicians, was quoted as saying. "Although more research is needed, statins may prove effective in helping to reduce the incidence of VTE in specific patient populations."
Source: CHEST 2009, October 31-November 5, 2009, San Diego, CA
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