How To Fight the Agony Of Depression With Statins
Recent studies have revealed that patients who take statins – a medication used for reducing cholesterol levels – are much less likely to experience episodes of depression, than those who don’t. This intriguing research was conducted by a team supervised by Dr Mary Whooley at the University of California in San Francisco. For the first time the research aimed to provide an understanding of the impact of statins on psychological health, as opposed to physical and physiological wellbeing.
Statins offer significant health-benefits as they reduce harmful cholesterol’s in the blood, which can lead to the hardening of arteries and a vulnerability to heart-conditions such as angina, heart-attack and also – the risk of stroke.
Dr Whooley and her team of researchers analyzed the data from a sample of 965 patients and asked the ones who used statins to complete a questionnaire every year during a period of six years, which revealed information on their psychological wellbeing and frame of mind. Based on information from the questionnaires, the study revealed the following results: 629 (65%) of the patients took statins, among the 776 patients without depressive symptoms at the beginning of the study, statin use was linked to a 48% reduction in developing depression. This association continued, but was lowered to 38% when the researchers took into account additional aggravators such as smoking, exercise and high-cholesterol levels.
As the study gathered momentum, the researchers determined a difference between those who used statins and those who had not – exhibited greater levels of depressive-symptom. However despite these findings, Dr Whooley asserts that more studies need to be carried out investigating the link between satins and the potential treatment of depression:
“Whether use of statins prevents depressive symptoms deserves further study…Statins may have some kind of long-term protective effect against depression, perhaps by helping to prevent atherosclerosis in the brain, which can contribute to depressive symptoms”.
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