The "Statinth" wonder of the world: A panacea for all illnesses or a bubble about to burst

Abstract

After the introduction of statins in the market as effective lipid lowering agents, they were shown to have effects other than lipid lowering. These actions were collectively referred to as 'pleiotropic actions of statins.' Pleiotropism of statins formed the basis for evaluating statins for several indications other than lipid lowering. Evidence both in favour and against is available for several of these indications. The current review attempts to critically summarise the available data for each of these indications. © 2005 Shafiq et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.