Statins have been linked to a reduced risk of death from COVID-19, according to a new Swedish study.
Researchers at the Karolinska Institutet have completed the largest population study to date in the field, finding there is a slightly lower risk of dying from COVID-19 and this did not vary significantly among risk groups.
Their results, published in the latest PLoS Medicine, are based on data from Swedish registers, following 963,876 residents of Stockholm over the age of 45 between March and November 2020 and based on analyses of data on the participants’ prescribed medication and healthcare and from the Cause of Death Register.
Co-first author Rita Bergqvist, medical student at Karolinska Institutet, said: “Our results suggest that statin treatment can have a moderate prophylactic effect on COVID-19 mortality.”
However, the team said randomised studies are needed to establish if there is a causal relationship.
Bergqvist R, Ahlqvist VH, Lundberg M et al. HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors and COVID-19 mortality in Stockholm, Sweden: a registry based cohort study. PLoS Medicine 14 October 2021
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