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Stress responses after treatment of hypercholesterolaemia with simvastatin
Author(s) -
NUGENT A.M.,
NEELY D.,
YOUNG I.,
McDOWELL I.,
O'KANE M.,
BELL N.,
STANFORD C. F.,
NICHOLLS D. P.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
british journal of clinical pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.216
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1365-2125
pISSN - 0306-5251
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1993.tb00400.x
Subject(s) - simvastatin , medicine , placebo , hmg coa reductase , hydroxymethylglutaryl coa reductase , endocrinology , catecholamine , cholesterol , hydrocortisone , reductase , pharmacology , biology , biochemistry , alternative medicine , pathology , enzyme
In order to determine whether treatment of hyperlipidaemia with simvastatin impairs exercise stress responses and so may contribute to an excess of suicides and violent deaths, the effects of simvastatin 20 mg daily and placebo on exercise physiology were compared in 19 patients. After 6 weeks of treatment there was no evidence of reduced exercise capacity, or of reduced cortisol or catecholamine responses. It is concluded that treatment of hyperlipidaemia with an inhibitor of HMG‐CoA reductase does not significantly modify stress responses, and so the explanation for a possible increase in non‐cardiac mortality must be sought elsewhere.