STATINS GIVE YEARS MORE LIFE TO OAPS
Pills ‘cut stroke and heart risk’
CHOLESTEROL-busting statins can add years to the lives of elderly people, a study claims.
Research into the over-75s found those taking them were 25% less likely to die from any cause, and suggests more people should use them.
The once-a-day pills cut the risk of a heart attack or stroke by a fifth.
A US team studied data on more than 300,000 elderly US people from 2002 to 2012 who were at least 75 and had not had a heart attack or stroke.
More than 57,000 began taking statins in this time and they found a significant link with reduced deaths.
Even individuals in their 90s and those with dementia benefited.
It adds to evidence that thousands of deaths could be prevented each year if more elderly people take them.
Lead author Dr Ariela Orkaby, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, said: “The benefit of statins held true regardless of whether a person was older or younger, or had a condition such as dementia.”
More than six million Brits take them but only about a third of over-75s.
Statins lower levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol, preventing blood clots which can lead to heart attacks or strokes. It is known they benefit the middle-aged. But in 28 clinical trials, only 2% of participants have been 75 or older. The results may be due to people who take statins being more likely to look after themselves in other ways. Higher-dose and higher intensity statins are more frequently used but many people report aches and pains as side-effects.
However last year a review found up to 8,000 UK lives a year could be saved if everyone over 75 took them. A separate study in New York found that blocking bad cholesterol storage could fight cancer.