Don’t stop taking statins too early, scientists warn
Statins provide limited use unless patients stay on them for life, research suggests.
The British study found that stopping treatment early cut the benefits by as much as threequarters – even among those who stayed on the drugs until they reached their 80s.
Researchers from Oxford University and Queen Mary University of London found most of the gains from taking cholesterol-busting drugs occur in later life, when the risk of heart disease is greatest.
Some people stop taking statins because they dislike being on longterm medication or because they suspect side-effects.
However, lead author Dr Runguo Wu, from Queen Mary University of London, said: ‘‘Stopping treatment, unless advised by a doctor, does not appear to be a wise choice.’’
Modellers estimated the benefit of taking a standard 40mg daily dose of statins for 57,473 people selected from the UK Biobank, using detailed information about their medical history, as well as age and sex.
The benefit was measured in quality adjusted life years (QALYs), which is the length of life adjusted to reflect the impact of poor health on quality of life.
One QALY is equal to one year of life in perfect health.
Researchers found that compared with lifelong use, stopping therapy at 80 years of age erased a large share of the potential benefit.
The trend was particularly strong among women, whose overall risk of heart disease is lower.
Wu said: ‘‘Our study suggests that people who start taking statins in their 50s but stop at 80 years of age instead of continuing lifelong will lose 73 per cent of the QALY benefit if they are at relatively low cardiovascular risk and 36 per cent if they are at high cardiovascular risk – since those at elevated risk start to benefit earlier.
‘Women’s cardiovascular risk is generally lower than men’s.
‘‘This means that for women, most of the lifelong benefit from statins occurs later in life and stopping therapy prematurely is likely more detrimental than for men.’’