Back to blood pressure news index

Cholesterol meds lower blood pressure

A new 6 month study has shown cholesterol lowering drugs, known as statins also reduce high blood pressure.

The statin study

The University of California San Diego recruited 973 men and women for the study. They were divided into 3 groups receiving either:

• a placebo
• 20 mg of simvastatin (Zocor) or,
• 40mg of pravastatin (Pravachol)

The results

Both statin drugs reduced blood pressure relative to placebo, by 2.2mmHg for systolic pressure and 2.4mmHg for diastolic pressure.

The effects took more than a month to appear and disappeared two months after the treatment ended.

The authors wrote, "This study adds to our understanding of the effects of statins, currently the best-selling prescription drugs in the world."

The study was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The study was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Institutes of Health.

Back to blood pressure news index