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Taking statin drugs and also exercising may reduce the risk of early death up to 70%, a new study finds. That finding comes from a study of 10,000 veterans. All had high LDL (“bad cholesterol”) and received care at a U.S. veterans’ hospital. Nearly all of them were men. Everyone took a treadmill test to assess fitness. Researchers looked at people’s medical records and kept track of people for 10 years. Those who took statins were 35% less likely to die during the study than people who did not take these drugs. Statins reduce LDL and inflammation. Death rates were 70% lower for people who had the highest fitness level and also took statins than for those who did neither. The fittest people had 60% lower death rates even if they did not take statins.

A new drug for insomnia helped people get a little more sleep with few side effects, researchers report. Suvorexant acts in a different way than drugs now on the market. It targets the brain chemicals that help keep people awake. Other drugs affect the brain in a broader way. That’s one reason for side effects, such as daytime sleepiness. The new study of suvorexant included 254 healthy adults with insomnia. People were randomly assigned to receive 1 of 4 doses of suvorexant. They took the drug for 4 weeks and placebo (fake) pills for another 4 weeks. They spent the first night of each treatment in a sleep lab. On their first day taking suvorexant, they slept about 5% to 13% longer than those who took the placebo. That equaled about 21 to 37 extra minutes of sleep. The average difference varied with the dose people were taking.