Cholesterol drugs lessen arthritis risk, finds study

LONDON - Cholesterol lowering statins taken by millions also nearly cut by half the risk of developing arthritis.

The finding raises hopes that the drugs could be used to prevent or delay the onset of the crippling condition that afflicts 350,000 in Britain alone.

A breakthrough is vital as arthritis has no known cure. Existing treatments can trigger heart attacks and strokes, reports the Daily Mail.

Israeli researchers dredged almost two million health records for information about arthritis-free patients who had on statins to cut their cholesterol.

Those who took the drugs regularly were 42 percent less likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than those who took them only occasionally, reports the journal Public Library of Science Medicine.

The younger a person was when they started on statins, the greater the benefits to their joints.

The link held true even when factors such as age and other health problems were taken into account.

More common in women than men, rheumatoid arthritis occurs when the immune system attacks the joints, causing stiffness, pain and swelling.

The study showed that statins were ineffective against osteoarthritis, the most common form of the condition, caused not by the immune system but by wear and tear of the cartilage.

The researchers, from the Maccabi Healthcare Services in Tel Aviv, believe statins may counter rheumatoid arthritis by tackling inflammation.