Statins

Vanderbilt researchers used genetics tools and biobanks with linked electronic health records to explore the associations between statins and noncardiovascular diseases. Read More

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) researchers are enrolling adults aged 75 and over to study whether taking atorvastatin, a drug commonly used to lower cholesterol also called Lipitor®, can help maintain health by preventing dementia, disability, and heart disease. Read More

Patients who take a cholesterol-lowering statin drug while taking the antibiotic daptomycin have increased risk of developing muscle weakness or a more severe form of muscle damage. Read More

A Vanderbilt-led research team has discovered genetic variations that increase the risk of heart attack even when patients are receiving a statin drug like Lipitor or Crestor to lower their blood cholesterol. Read More

Higher concentrations of high-density lipoproteins — HDL, the “good” cholesterol — may be protective against acute kidney injury after cardiac surgery, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered. Read More

Among doctors, it is widely believed that a class of drugs called statins, which are used to lower cholesterol, might help patients tolerate the stress of cardiac surgery. Not so, according to a five-year, placebo-controlled, double-blinded randomized clinical trial conducted at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, published today in the… Read More

A new study led by Vanderbilt University investigators found that patients being treated with statins at the time of surgery for kidney cancer, also known as renal cell carcinoma, had improved overall survival and disease-specific survival. Read More

Electronic medical records linked to DNA biobanks are a valid resource for defining and understanding the genetic factors that contribute to drug response. Read More

When O.T. Hayes, 67, of Lebanon, Tenn., first starting seeing his cardiologist, David Hansen, M.D., for treatment of his coronary artery disease, it was hard to predict which of the various medications available would help control Haynes’ high cholesterol. Read More

Statins, traditionally known as cholesterol-lowering drugs, may reduce mortality among patients hospitalized with influenza, according to a new study released online by The Journal of Infectious Diseases. Read More

Vanderbilt University Medical Center doctors announced today they will begin screening patients who take commonly prescribed statin drugs for a rare genetic variation that can increase risks for side effects from these drugs such as muscle aches, kidney damage and even death. Read More