Statins ‘fail to work for half of patients’

HALF of people prescribed statins are left at high risk of heart disease as the pills fail to lower cholesterol, a major study suggests.

Experts last night called for a much more tailored approach to the use of statins in the wake of the ‘alarming’ findings.

The study of 165,400 people, led by the University of Nottingham in England, showed 49% of patients given the drugs did not see their cholesterol fall to healthy levels within two years.

Researchers believe this may be down to their genetic make-ups rendering the pills ineffective or it could be that other medications they take interfere with the way statins work. Another theory is that many people in the study might have simply stopped taking their statins.

The pills are designed to cut levels of ‘bad’ low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in the blood, reducing furring of the arteries and cutting the risk of heart-related problems. But the new study, which used GP records, found only half of patients prescribed the medicine saw the response they expected.

The researchers found that for 51% of patients statins were incredibly effective – cutting cholesterol by at least 40% within two years. But for the other 49% there was no significant impact, and these patients were 22% more likely to develop cardiovascular disease than those who did.

The researchers admitted the data only showed whether each participant was prescribed statins, not whether they actually took it, so they urged patients not to stop taking their medication until there are more definitive findings. But study leader Dr Stephen Weng said: ‘We have to develop better ways to understand differences between patients and how we can tailor more effective treatment for those patients who are simply blanket prescribed statins.’

The research team detailed their findings in the Heart medical journal. In a linked editorial in the same publication, Dr Marcio Bittencourt of University Hospital São Paulo in Brazil wrote that the number of patients responding poorly was ‘clearly alarming’.

However, other doctors dismissed the study’s findings. Professor Metin Avkiran of the British Heart Foundation said: ‘Although this study suggests that not everyone who is prescribed statins manages to reduce their cholesterol sufficiently, it doesn’t explain why.’