statin

plural statins

1. medicineAny of a class of drugs, the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, that lower the amount of cholesterol in the blood by inhibiting an enzyme involved in its biosynthesis.First known use 1980s

   Among the latest are reports of the ability of several leading statins to reduce deaths from common cancers and blunt the decline of memory with age.

   2020 September 21, Jane E. Brody, “For Older People, Reassuring News in the Statin Debate”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 07 Nov 2020

   1 more example

   The researchers found that statins were likely to provide benefits at a substantially higher health risk than expected and that those risk levels were lower for atorvastatin and rosuvastatin than for simvastatin and pravastatin. […] Yet some of the statin side effects mentioned in the study have not been proved in the scientific literature or are exaggerated and could cause unnecessary worry, he said.

   2018 December 3, Jacqueline Howard, “Are statins overprescribed? Why the risks and benefits are so complex”, in CNN

2. endocrinologyAn inhibiting hormone: a hormone that is involved primarily in inhibiting the release of another hormone.First known use 1970s

   Antonyms: liberin, releasing hormone