Risk of joint disease can be slashed by statin use

Fresh research carried out by medical experts at Cambridge University has concluded that the risk of developing arthritis can be significantly reduced simply by the taking of everyday cholesterol-lowering statins that are already widespread on the UK market.

As we grow older, a gradual slowdown in general mobility is almost inevitable, but this new study is one of a number of similar projects to have been carried out in recent months. These studies suggest there are ways in which some of the more aggressive forms of arthritis, which limits the movements of millions across the country, can be delayed, if not altogether prevented.

Whilst Mohammed Ahmed Rashid, the lead researcher behind the study, has reminded people interested in the results that 'clinical trials and cost analyses are needed to decide on the feasibility of using statins in osteoarthritis patients', there has nevertheless been a palpable amount of optimism created by the announcement.

Mobility aids like stair lifts and other such devices provide vital support to those who have been affected by arthritis and other mobility limiting conditions like it, but there can be no disputing that any new scientific discoveries which have the potential to reduce its affects will be welcomed. The prospective health benefits to the population would also doubtless be welcomed by the NHS, with the supposed required dosage of statins needed to reduce the risk of arthritis estimated to cost only 15p per day.

The study in question was carried out on around 16,000 adults over the course of a decade, and found that those taking statins most regularly and in high quantities developed osteoarthritis 60 per cent less than those not on any medication.

Whether this research is eventually proven to be of worth or not, products such as easy access baths and showers are helping to make life for those living with arthritis of varying levels of severity easier to cope with on a day-to-day basis, and this will continue to be the case.

Image credit: Marshall Astor (flickr.com)