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Long-term statin use may protect against cataract surgery in younger patients
Am J Ophthalmol. 2012;153(2):222-228.
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Long-term use of statins may have a protective effect against cataract surgery, especially for younger patients aged 50 to 64 years, according to a study.
"Statins might be protective because of their antioxidant properties," the study authors said.
The case-control study investigated whether statin use reduces the risk of cataract extraction. It included 13,982 patients who underwent cataract surgery at Kaiser Permanente Southern California and 34,049 controls who had an eye examination but no history of cataract.
Use of atorvastin, ezetimibe-simvastatin, lovastatin, pravastatin or simvastatin constituted statin use, but the analysis also included other lipid-lowering agents, such as cholestyramine, colestipol, ezetimibe, fenofibrate and gemfibrozil.
Age-stratified logistic regression analysis results demonstrated that recent long-term statin use of at least 5 years had a protective effect against cataract surgery among patients aged 50 to 64 years but not among patients older than 64 years. In both age groups, shorter-term use of less than 5 years was linked to an increased risk of cataract surgery.
After adjusting for age, race, sex, diabetes, coronary artery disease and smoking status, a protective effect was found for long-term statin use (P = .02) while short-term use was linked to cataract extraction (P < .0001).
"Additional studies will be needed to understand the difference in effect between longer- and shorter-term users of statins," the researchers said.