Statin/pancreatitis risk less than thought

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Jan. 2 (UPI) -- Cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins can increase the risk of pancreatitis, but less so than thought, say U.S. researchers.

Sonai Singh and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins University wanted to quantify the risk of developing the side effect, so they reviewed 33 spontaneous reports of statin-induced pancreatitis from the Canadian Adverse Drug Event Monitoring System and other studies.

They found that, while statins such as Lipitor and Pravachol increased the risk of developing pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas), it only occurred in one of every 300,000 people who took the drugs for a year.

They also found that, although acute pancreatitis is a life-threatening condition, only five deaths have ever been reported.

In addition, the team discovered that people on higher doses of the medication had no greater risk of the disorder than those on lower doses, suggesting that the side effect does not result from a cumulative dose of the drug.

"We found that all statins can cause pancreatitis, so switching from one to another will not help," said Singh, who now works at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He explained that acute pancreatitis is usually caused by gallstones or drinking too much alcohol, but in many cases the cause is unknown.

The study is published in the current issue of the journal Drug Safety.