According to the results of a new study featured in the October 27 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, people who used statin drugs and were hospitalized with pneumonia were less likely to die within 90 days of discharge.

The study coordinated by Reimar Thomsen, MD, PhD, of Aarhus University and Aalborg Hospital in Aalborg, Denmark, and colleagues, analyzed data from 29,900 adults hospitalized with pneumonia between 1997 and 2004. Of those, 1,371 (4.65) were taking cholesterol-reducing medications before developing pneumonia, an inflammation of the lungs generally caused by an infection.

The differences between the two groups became apparent during the first weeks of hospitalization, when a high number of pneumonia-related deaths occurred, and they increased minimally between 30 and 90 days after admission, the study’s authors wrote in their report. The death rate was more than 5 percent lower for those on statins after 30 days (10 percent to 15.7 percent), but after 90 days the differences were less significant (16.8 percent versus 22.4 percent). These results suggest that statin use is beneficial, primarily in the early phase of infection, according to the report.

Other studies have suggested that statins may benefit patients with sepsis or bacteremia, or infection of the bloodstream. Patients with infections of the bloodstream may benefit from the ability of stains to act against clotting, inflammation, and modification of immune functions.

A study found that people who use statin drugs are less likely to develop dementia. One of the leading causes for dementia is believed to be the poor blood supply to the brain; statin drugs, among other effects, are known to be bringing down the cholesterol level.

“Our study adds to the accumulating evidence that statin use is associated with improved prognosis after severe infections,” the study’s authors said. Many people with pneumonia die of overwhelming inflammation and these drugs may help dampen this inflammation.

It is estimated that about 10 to 15% of pneumonia patients die from the disease.

“These data suggest a substantial decrease in mortality with statin use,” Kasturi Haldar, Ph.D. (University of Notre Dame, South Bend., Ind.) writes in an accompanying editorial. The editorial highlights the fact that the study raises the question of whether statins should be used to develop therapies effective against both acute and persistent infections.

In a separate study, researchers at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia found that statins may help prevent the development of deep vein thrombosis, or DVT. Patients with cancer who didn’t take statins were more likely to develop DVT and pulmonary embolism, compared to those who took statins. Being fairly difficult to diagnose, such a clot that forms in the leg or the groin and goes by the medical name of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), could easily become deadly if it manages to travel to the lungs, where it becomes a pulmonary embolism.

Statins stop the blood from clotting and lower inflammation. They also lower levels of “bad cholesterol” and raise levels of “good cholesterol,” keep the blood vessels healthy, allowing blood to flow freely to the brain.