The Justification for the Use of Statins in Primary Prevention: An Intervention Trial Evaluating Rosuvastatin (JUPITER) trial indicated that statin therapy reduces cardiovascular risk among older individuals with at-goal levels of LDL-cholesterol, but elevated levels of an inflammatory marker called C-reactive protein. Based on these findings, researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine estimate that over six million elderly Americans are now eligible for statin therapy, according to an article published in the March 17, 2009 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology .

Using data from the 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), the researchers identified older adults who qualified for statin therapy based on their LDL-cholesterol and C-reactive proteins. They determined that 3.9 million men aged 50 and older and 2.6 million women aged 60 and older met JUPITER eligibility criteria for initiation of statin treatment.

Based on JUPITER findings, the researchers also found that, if all of these potentially-eligible older adults were treated with a statin, an estimated 260,000 heart disease-related events could be prevented.

Source

J Am Coll Cardiol 2009;53:931-935.