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Statins reduce cardiovascular risk in patients with hypercholesterolemia. To assess their value in a specific high-risk population — patients with type 2 diabetes who require hemodialysis for end-stage renal disease — researchers randomized 1255 such patients (mean age, 66; 54% men) with LDL-cholesterol levels of 80 mg/dL to 190 mg/dL (mean, 126 mg/dL) to receive atorvastatin (20 mg/day) or placebo. Subjects had had diabetes for a mean of 18 years and had been receiving dialysis for a mean of 8 years. Mean treatment duration was about 28 months, and mean follow-up was 4 years. Atorvastatin’s manufacturer funded the study.
LDL-cholesterol levels declined by a mean of 42% in the atorvastatin group and remained virtually unchanged in the placeb…