July 21, 2005 - In a surprising finding, a study published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) reports that statin therapy (Lipitor) had no significant survival benefit for type 2 diabetics on hemodialysis.

Atorvastatin in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Undergoing Hemodialysis - abstract from the NEJM

"Conclusions: Atorvastatin had no statistically significant effect on the composite primary end point of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, and stroke in patients with diabetes receiving hemodialysis."

It was the first major test of statins in diabetics who need dialysis machines to remove wastes from their bloodstream because their kidneys cannot do the job. Related article from the Associated Press.

While Lipitor worked as expected on cholesterol levels, its use did not reduce mortality rates for these dialysis patients.

Another surprising finding of this study was that Lipitor use by type 2 diabetics on hemodialysis doubled the risk of having a fatal stroke.

The authors of the paper conclude that statin therapy in this specific population may be a case of too little too late. "The initiation of lipid-lowering therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who already have end-stage renal disease may come too late to translate into consistent improvement of the cardiovascular outcome."