17.05.12
Statins could halve stroke deaths
The NHS should consider giving statins to healthy people in order to prevent heart attacks and strokes, new research recommends.
Published in the Lancet, a study of 175,000 patients concluded there would be a significant reduction of risk if statins were prescribed to more people.
Statins are currently recommended for people with 20% or greater chance of developing cardio-vascular disease within 10 years, but researchers are calling for this threshold to be lowered to a risk of 10%.
This could lead to five million more people taking statins, could save 2,000 lives and prevent 10,000 heart attacks or strokes every year, the research suggests.
One of the researchers, Prof Colin Baigent, told the BBC: “We’ve been taught over the years that high cholesterol is the thing that matters; you mustn't have high cholesterol.
“But what we’ve actually learned is that, whatever your level of cholesterol, reducing it further is beneficial. Whatever your level of risk, the benefits greatly exceed any known hazard.
“Half of [these] deaths come out of the blue in people who were previously healthy. If we are going to prevent that half of cardiac or stroke deaths, then we’ve got to consider treating healthy people. It can’t be done any other way.”
NICE is currently reviewing the evidence and will publish its results by the end of 2013. The organisation stated: “New evidence on statin treatment thresholds that has become available since publication of the original NICE guideline, including the study reported in the Lancet, will be considered as part of our review.”
The use of statins has been linked to side effects including kidney failure and muscle weakness, and some health professionals are concerned about the implications of mass-medicating for lifestyle issues.
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