A new study has found significant corrolation between cholesterol-lowering statins and better survival rates of patients with various kinds of cancer.
“Statins have some of the best mortality evidence amongst all cardiovascular medications and statin use in patients with a diagnosis of high cholesterol is possibly the main reason that this diagnosis appears to be protective against death in patients with lung, breast, prostate and bowel cancer,” said Rahul Potluri from Aston University.
High cholesterol is strongly associated with obesity, which in turn, is associated with a higher risk of a number of forms of cancer.
The 14-year study of one million people has found that patients with cancer were less likely to die if they had a diagnosis of high cholesterol than if they did not.
Having a diagnosis of high cholesterol was associated with a 22 percent lower risk of death in patients with lung cancer, 43 percent lower risk of death in breast cancer, 47 percent lower risk of death in prostate cancer and 30 percent lower risk of death in bowel cancer.