Extra Benefits from Your Prescription Bottle

Need another reason not to ditch your heart-attack-preventing statin drug in favor of saving a few bucks? Well, if a 50% increase in the risk of dying in the 2 weeks after you stop isn't enough (Seriously. Fifty percent. Now, get to your pharmacy), then consider this: Statins may be doing plenty more for your body than you think. New research suggests that this top-selling class of drugs may battle a veritable rogue's gallery of health villains, from prostate cancer and heart-valve aging to strokes and erectile dysfunction to gallstones . . . and maybe even Alzheimer's disease.

It's too soon, of course, to take a statin for anything other than cardiovascular protection. But all that could change in the next decade as researchers continue to follow the next chapters of statins versus the bad guys. Watch for more information on the potential powers of statins because they:

• Protect against prostate cancer. In a series of studies presented at this spring's meeting of the American Urological Association, researchers reported that men who took statins had a three-fold lower risk of developing prostate cancer than pill-free guys. And when they did develop it, their cancers were less aggressive and less likely to recur.
• Decrease "plumbing" problems. Statin takers had a 63% lower risk for urinary problems and a 57% lower risk for an enlarged prostate, Mayo Clinic researchers reported at the same meeting. Which is all well and good, but here's what you really care about: In another study, guys over age 60 who took statins for at least 9 years cut their odds for erectile dysfunction 64%.
• Lower overall cancer risk. In a study of more than 62,000 people, statin users had 24% fewer cancers. Another study found a 25% to 40% drop in risk for liver cancer among statin takers with diabetes.
  • Shield against repeat colon cancer. While statins don't seem to prevent colon cancer, they may cut odds for a second round of it by more than 60%.
  • Drop risk for dangerous (and deadly) blood clots. In a study of 740 people, statin users were 2 1/2 times less likely to develop clots in the legs (deep vein thrombosis) or lungs (pulmonary embolism).
  • Help stop strokes. Statins slash risk for the most common type of stroke -- ischemic strokes caused by blood clots. Statin users who did have "brain attacks" had milder ones and had better recoveries than nonusers.
  • Give you better bounce-back. Statins may help you have a healthier heart after a cardiac emergency. People who got statins after chest pains and other heart trouble (acute coronary syndrome) landed them in the ER cut their risk of dying in the next year by 22%.
  • Improve eyesight. Statin users were 60% less likely to develop vision-robbing cataracts than pill-free folks.
  • Drop surgery risk. Women who took statins lowered their risk for needing surgery to remove gallstones by 18%.
  • Guard your brain (maybe). While one large, well-designed study of 929 Catholic nuns and priests recently found statins didn't protect against Alzheimer's disease, three previous studies suggested these specific versions of this class of meds (specifically Crestor and Lipitor), could lower dementia odds by a whopping 50% to 80%. So the jury's still out on this one!

What makes statins such all-star multitaskers? First, they pamper blood vessels by reducing plaque-generating lousy LDL cholesterol and by helping cells in your artery walls work better. That's good news for your heart, your brain, and every inch of the 100,000 miles of arteries and veins in your body! Second, they cool chronic inflammation -- a factor that fuels the growth of cancer cells and raises odds for mayhem like heart attacks and strokes. Third, statins seem to neutralize cell-damaging free radicals -- destructive rogue oxygen molecules linked with genetic damage that leads to cancer as well as atherosclerosis.

What does this mean for you? If you're taking a statin, stick with it; the fringe benefits could be terrific (and the main benefit -- preventing a heart attack -- is essential. The dangers of stopping are huge: In addition to the 50% increase in heart attack risk within the first 2 weeks of nixing them, there is a 16% increase in your risk of death over the next year.

And while statins do important things to your LDL, to your risk of inflammation, and to your ability to muzzle free radicals, they're not the only things that do that. Simple lifestyle changes play that game, too. So whether or not you're on the pills, make the changes that make a difference: Control your weight, stay physically active, fill up on fruits and veggies, cut back on fatty meats and full-fat dairy products, get plenty of sleep and -- don't skip this one -- relax!