statin treatment and cataract
Last reviewed 01/2018
A prospective open cohort study has examined and quantified the unintended risks and benefits of statins in a large representative primary care population over a six year period.
With respect to risk of cataracts associated with statin treatment the results revealed:
- statin use was associated with an increased risk of cataract in both men and women, apart from fluvastatin in men, owing to small numbers in the analysis
- no significant difference between the effects of individual statins in men (P=0.32) or in women (P=0.82)
- no evidence of a dose-response relation
- risk was significantly increased within a year of starting statins, persisted during treatment, and returned to normal within the first year after stopping treatment
- number needed to harm (NNH) for cataract was 33 (28 to 38)
Reference:
population based cohort study of statin use via analysis of QResearch database