Statins Do More Than Lower Cholesterol

Statins appear to be associated with a lower risk of the heart rhythm abnormality known as atrial fibrillation in postmenopausal women with coronary disease.

"Our finding alone doesn't prove that statins prevent atrial fibrillation, but it certainly supports the hypothesis that they may," said study author Dr. Cara Pellegrini, an electrophysiology fellow at the University of California, San Francisco. "Most likely, we will need a randomized, controlled study that includes both men and women to further prove this question."

But as a practitioner, Pellegrini added, "I would have a low threshold for putting a patient in whom I'm concerned about atrial fibrillation on a statin. If they perhaps were somewhat borderline for other reasons, this might tip the scale, even in the absence of a formal clinical trial."

Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, director of women and heart disease at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said: "Statins aren't anti-arrhythmic, but they are definitely one of the medications that can be used adjunctively to treat and prevent atrial fibrillation.

Trials like this remind us that statins do a lot more than decrease cholesterol. They have this anti-inflammatory component, and when you see a study like this that shows such a decreased incidence of atrial fibrillation, you have to assume that it's through that anti-inflammatory pathway. This is pretty compelling."