Abstract

Golomb et al performed a double-blinded, randomized, controlled trial of six months’ duration that compared simvastatin 20 mg/d and pravastatin 40 mg/d with placebo. It included 973 subjects with a low density lipoprotein cholesterol level of 115 to 190 mg/dL. Baseline systolic blood pressure (BP) and diastolic BP levels were in the normal and high-normal ranges without receiving antihypertensive agents. The reduction in BP with statins was not significant at one month, and modest but significant at six months. Differences in BP between statins and placebo disappeared two months after statin withdrawal. As this study did not include hypertensive patients, it could not provide definite conclusions on the effectiveness of statins as antihypertensives.