New studies have emerged contending that older adults would probably benefit from the usage of cholesterol-lowering statin, given that they have healthy hearts.
According to a report published on July 7 in the American Medical Association, researchers have reported that people aged 75 or more, who had no heart diseases, reduced their risk of death from any cause by 25% and heart-related death by 20% upon usage of statin.
According to multiple scientists, this data indicates that age is not a reason to not prescribe statins.
Statins are drugs used to prevent the buildup of plaques that can narrow or block arteries, leading to complications like strokes and heart attacks. Until quite recently, guidelines recommended halting statin therapy at age 75, however, in 2018 these guidelines were adjusted to say statins are a reasonable choice for those older than 75 without a life-limiting disease like cancer or organ failure. The new study provides evidence to support the guideline change.
For this study, the research team analyzed data from more than 300,000 veterans 75 or older who used VA health care services between 2002 and 2012. None had experienced a heart attack, stroke, or other heart problems.
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Of those vets, more than 57,000 started taking statins during that period. Researchers compared those who used statins against those who didn’t and noted that their risk of heart-related death was significantly lowered.
The benefits remained for veterans at advanced ages, including those 90 or older, and also were strong among vets with dementia. Patients on statins also had a lower risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Now, with broader and more randomized clinical trials underway, the hypothesis that this research has validated can be properly confirmed as true.
Since current data on statin usage is mostly limited to younger patients, this is a step in the right direction as it is the older generation that would benefit the most from statin use.