Statin Use and Cataract Surgery: A Nationwide Retrospective Cohort Study in Elderly Ethnic Chinese Patients

Abstract

Statin therapy was associated with a modestly increased risk of cataract surgery. We suggest regular checks for lens opacity in statin users.

Towards a Paradigm Shift in Cholesterol Treatment. A Re-examination of the Cholesterol Issue in Japan: Abstracts

“…Compared to the general population's total cholesterol levels of 198 ± 35 mg/dl (5.12 ± 0.91 mmol/l) in men and 206 ± 36 (5.32 ± 0.93) in women (which are taken as mean total cholesterol levels ± SD reported by the National Health and Nutrition Survey, 2003 [35] published in the same year of Moriya et al's study), the levels for HBV patients were little different. The difference in total cholesterol levels observed between the HCV and HBV patients can be explained by the fact that, apart from HBV, HCV infects hepatocytes through LDL receptors [36].…”

“…Lai et al conducted a retrospective cohort study in Taiwan using data from the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2005 that were randomly sampled from the National Health Insurance Research Database [35]. They analyzed data from a total of 50,165 adults aged 65-90 years in 1998 without records of statin therapy or diagnosis of cataracts between July and December 1997 and identified 17,670 individuals with an incident lens extraction during a median follow-up period of 10.7 years.…”

The effect of statin use on lens density as assessed by pentacam hr® lens densitometry in adults

“…While some of them did not report an association between statin use and cataract (9,10,11,12), some found a protective effect of statins on cataract (5,6,7). Recently, few studies demonstrated an increased risk of cataract associated with statins (2,4,5,13,14). The majority of these studies are observational and dependent on the medical records derived from the national databases.…”

“…While oxidative damage to the lens epithelium may induce cataract formation, statins may be protective against cataractogenesis. However, recent studies showed controversial results, with some suggesting an increased risk of cataracts with statin use (2,4,5) while others appear to show a beneficial effect of statins on cataract risk (5,6,7).…”

Statin use and risk of cataract: A nested case-control study within a healthcare database

“…After publication of this meta-analysis, Leuschen et al published a propensity score-matched analysis that indicated an increased risk of cataract among statin users as compared to non-users [14]. Furthermore, Lai et al conducted a retrospective cohort study using the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database of Taiwan, showing that statin therapy was associated with a modestly increased risk of cataract surgery [15], and Wise et al showed that statin use is significantly associated with cataract requiring surgical intervention in two large North American cohorts [16].…”