New study highlights effective drug against delirium

Jan 20, 2014 23:01 GMT  ·  By

A new study by researchers with the Watford General Hospital, in Watford, the UK, suggests that the incidence of delirium in terminally-ill patients can be significantly reduced through the administration of statins, even in patients who have received statins before being admitted into the hospital.

The conclusions of this study were based on a survey of 470 intensive care patients at several hospitals across the UK. The findings were validated using a delirium screening tool dubbed the Confusion Assessment Method-ICU (CAM-ICU), e! Science News reports.

“This is the first study using a validated delirium screening tool to show that the administration of statins reduces delirium in these patients. This benefit may be mediated by a reduction in systemic inflammation,” says WGH researcher Valerie J Page, the lead author of the new study.

Details of the research were published in the latest issue of the American Thoracic Society's (ATS) American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. The team administered statins to a total of 151 patients in the group, all of whom had received the compounds before admission as well.