Statins, commonly taken to reduce cholesterol, are known to increase the risk for diabetes, and diabetes increases the risk for staphylococcus infections of the skin and underlying soft tissue. But a new study in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology suggests that the effect of statins on infection may also be independent of diabetes. Atorvastatin (brand name Lipitor) and simvastatin (Zocor) had the strongest associations with skin infections. The risk was greatest in the three months after starting the medicines, and declined with time, but was still significant at one year.

Humphrey H.T. Ko of Curtin University, the study's lead author, said no one should stop taking statins because of the risk of infection.

Teen gets transplant after vaping damage

Doctors in Michigan said they had performed what they believe is the first double-lung transplant on a patient whose lungs were damaged from vaping. Detroit's Henry Ford Hospital said the patient, a 17-year-old male, underwent the roughly six-hour transplant surgery on Oct. 15. He spent a month on a life-support machine after suffering "complete lung failure" and would have faced "certain death" without the operation, doctors said.

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