Statins slash heart attack risk

The all-time best superpowers may be found in the characters of the X-Men series: Storm (Halle Berry) controls elements of weather and the atmosphere; Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) uses telepathy to read and control people’s minds; and Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), aka Dark Phoenix, moves objects using telekinesis.

But all that hoopla may pale in comparison to what researchers from the Boston VA, Harvard and other institutions recently found that statins can do for folks 75 and older who don’t have cardiovascular disease. Looking at available data from more than 57,000 veterans, they found that starting to take a statin at that age can slash your risk of developing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

It can also reduce your risk of dying from any cause over the course of four to 14 years by 25% and from a cardiovascular event like a heart attack or stroke by 20%.

The American Board of Internal Medicine, however, does caution you to recognize that statins do pose risks to older folks: Muscle aches and pains, nausea and intestinal woes, memory loss or confusion, and interaction with various other meds are possible.

So, if you’re in the 34% of folks over age 75 without cardiovascular disease, talk to your doc about the benefits and risks. Together, decide if a statin is right for you.

Tip: Statin-related muscle aches often go away if you take 200 milligrams of CoQ10 daily or switch to another statin (although we aren’t sure why changing statins makes a difference).