Experts think more of the population should be on statins

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Many more people may be able to benefit from taking statins to lower their cholesterol.
Large clinical trials have already shown that lowering blood cholesterol levels with statins greatly reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes in those who are at risk. In the Heart Protection Study, 20,536 men and women presenting at age 40 to 80 with heart disease or diabetes were given either 40 milligrams of simvastatin per day or placebo.

Using data from this study, researchers have found that using cheap, generic simvastatin would be cost-effective for a wide range of age and risk factor categories. Reduced risk of hospital admissions for heart attack or stroke would more than offset the cost of the drug. Simvastatin would be cost effective for people as young as 35 and as old as 85, even if their annual risk of heart attack was only one per cent. This means that statin therapy could be more cost effective than previously thought and applicable to a wider range of people.

Source
BMJ Online First 9th November 2006

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