STATINS DO HELP YOU LIVE LONGER
Pills cut risk of early death by a quarter for over-75s
PEOPLE over 75 can live longer if they take statins regularly, a study suggests. Researchers found that those who took a daily pill of the cholesterolbusting drug were 25 per cent less likely to die early from any cause.
And their risk of dying from a cardiovascular event
such as a heart attack or stroke was cut by 20 per cent. The drugs lower the level of “bad” LDL cholesterol in the blood, preventing the buildup of fatty deposits in arteries. They could save up to 8,000 lives a year.
The seven-year US study compared death and disease rates in 57,000 statins users with 270,000 patients who did not take them.
Benefits were even seen for those aged over 90 or who also suffered from other conditions such as dementia, the study authors said.
Lead author Dr Ariela Orkaby, a geriatrician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, said: “Based on these data, age is not a reason to not prescribe statins.
“Statins are commonly studied and prescribed for middle-aged adults but under-studied in people over age 75. One of the most remarkable things about our results is that we found the benefit of statins held true regardless of whether a person was older or younger or had a condition such as dementia.”
Statins are one of the most widely prescribed drugs in the UK, taken by around eight million people.
There is no age limit for the drugs and doctors assess whether a patient should take them based on their risk of getting cardiovascular disease.
But there has long been controversy over whether elderly people should routinely take the cheap pills. Professor Jeremy Pearson, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said the study added to “an increasing body of evidence” that statin use significantly reduces all-cause and cardiovascular death rates in over-75s.
Last year a review of data from 28 clinical trials found that the benefits in that age group far outweighed any rare sideeffects. Scientists said up to 8,000 lives could be saved annually in the UK alone if everyone over 75 received statin therapy. However Professor Colin Baigent of Oxford University, who co-authored that paper, said the US study contained some concerning findings.
He said: “Several findings are incompatible with established facts about statin effects, which tells us that there was a problem with the method used to derive the results. Fortunately, we don’t need to
depend on unreliable studies, because there is actually already evidence from trials of statins to support their use.” Those taking part in the study did not have a history of atherosclerotic heart disease and 97 per cent were men and the findings may not be typical of the general population.
Kausik Ray, a professor of public heath at Imperial College London, said the study showed no significant reduction in risk of non-fatal heart attacks or stroke.
The findings suggest the drugs had a bigger effect on all-cause mortality than on cardiovascular deaths alone.
Dr Orkaby acknowledged the study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, was not a “gold standard” trial but added: “There are leads to follow up on.”
Professor Martin Marshall, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “Research that shows statins to be effective at reducing the risk of cardiovascular conditions will be welcomed by patients and GPs.
“However statins taken over a long period of time won’t be suitable, or desirable, for everyone. Key is that GPs continue to prescribe within clinical guidelines and in conversation with patients.”