WEDNESDAY, Sept. 3, 2003 (HealthDayNews) -- The cholesterol-lowering statin drug atorvastatin may also help relieve leg pain and improve the walking ability of people with peripheral artery disease.
So finds a study in this week's issue of Circulation.
A common symptom of peripheral artery disease is cramping or fatigue in the legs and buttocks during activity that eases during rest. It's called intermittent claudication. About 5 percent of people age 60 and older have claudication.
This study included 354 people in their 60s with claudication. They received a daily dose of either a placebo, 10 milligrams of atorvastatin, or 80 milligrams of atorvastatin for a year.
The study subjects were measured on the total amount of time they could walk on a treadmill, and how long they could walk without pain. They also answered a quality-of-life questionnaire to gauge their total energy expenditure at work and during home and leisure-time activities.
The maximum amount of walking time didn't vary greatly between the people in the three groups. However, the amount of time free of leg pain while walking improved by 63 percent for the patients taking the daily 80 milligrams of atorvastatin, compared to about 38 percent for those taking the 10 milligram dose and the placebo.
The patients taking either the 80 milligram or 10 milligram drug dose showed improvement in physical activity on the quality of life questionnaire, compared to those on placebo.
The study found that 1.3 percent of the patients receiving either dose of the drug experienced a worsened claudication, foot pain or had to have a procedure to open clogged arteries. That figure was 7.9 percent in the patients taking the placebo.
"The significance of the finding is that patients with claudication treated with a statin may experience an improvement in walking distance and lifestyle in addition to the known benefits of reduced risk for heart attack, stroke and death," study senior author Dr. Mark A. Creager, director of the Vascular Center at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, says in a news release.
More information
Here's where you can learn more about intermittent claudication.
