The drugs known as “statins� are used to lower cholesterol and have become one of the most widely prescribed class of medications in the world. The statins include Mevacor, Pravachol, Zocor, Lescol, Lipitor and Crestor along with the now available generics lovastatin, pravastatin and simvastatin. Over the last two decades dozens of studies have confirmed that statins help reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, effects you might expect from drugs that are very effective at lowering cholesterol. But recent research has shown some surprising effects of statins that do not appear to related to cholesterol lowering.

One of the first of these observations was made in Great Britain in the late 1990’s. In a large epidemiological study involving more than 60,000 patients age 50 to 89, it was noted that those who were on a statin had a 90% reduction in the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Since then, multiple similar studies in Europe and America all confirm the 90% reduction in dementia associated with statin use.

In 2000 a study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showing that statin use in the elderly was associated with a reduction in risk for hip fractures. Since then multiple studies in America and Australia have demonstrated that statins reduce and even reverse osteoporosis in both elderly men and women.

The leading cause of blindness in the industrialized world is a disease called macular degeneration, a gradual process that destroys a part of the eye essential for vision. In 2001 an epidemiological studied conducted in England was published in the British Medical Journal. It showed that patients aged 66 to 75 who were on a statin had an 85% reduction in the risk of developing macular degeneration compared to the same aged patients not taking statins.

In the past five years medical studies have associated statin use with a reduced risk of colon cancer, as a treatment for multiple sclerosis and to improve kidney function in patients with chronic renal disease. They have been shown to reduce the risk for developing diabetes, reduce the risk of blood clots in the legs and most recently to reduce the risk of developing congestive heart failure.

While we don’t know how statins effect such a broad range of diseases its clear that their use is associated with a plethora of benefits above and beyond cholesterol lowering.