Do statins calm angry arteries?
Effect of statins on arterial wall inflammation as assessed by 18F-FDG PET CT: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Statins reduced artery inflammation even when CRP levels didn’t change.
CRP is the go-to blood test for inflammation—so if CRP didn’t budge, many assumed statins weren’t working. This study shows they were working invisibly, right on the artery walls.
Practical Takeaways
If you’re on statins and have known plaque, ask your doctor for a TBR PET-CT scan to see if your arteries are calming down.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Statins reduced artery inflammation even when CRP levels didn’t change.
CRP is the go-to blood test for inflammation—so if CRP didn’t budge, many assumed statins weren’t working. This study shows they were working invisibly, right on the artery walls.
Practical Takeaways
If you’re on statins and have known plaque, ask your doctor for a TBR PET-CT scan to see if your arteries are calming down.
Publication
Journal
Journal of Inflammation (London, England)
Year
2024
Authors
T. Jamialahmadi, Željko Reiner, L. Simental‐Mendía, Wael Almahmeed, S. Karav, Ali H. Eid, Francesco Giammarile, A. Sahebkar
Related Content
Claims (6)
Statins reduce intraplaque inflammation, thereby decreasing the likelihood of atherosclerotic plaque rupture and subsequent thrombotic events.
Taking statins may help calm down inflammation in the walls of arteries, which can be seen on a special scan that tracks sugar use by inflamed cells.
A special scan that tracks sugar use in artery walls can reliably show whether inflammation is going down — and it works in different parts of the body’s arteries.
Stronger statins seem to calm artery inflammation better than weaker ones, based on scans that show how much sugar inflamed cells are using.
When statins lower bad cholesterol, artery inflammation tends to go down too — the two seem to move together.