These findings suggest that statin medications for the primary prevention of cardiovascular events may reduce cardiac events for some adults aged 50 to 75 years with a life expectancy of at least 2.5 years; no data suggest a mortality benefit.
Taking statins can enable you to live years longer. That's because for every millimole per liter you drop your bad LDL cholesterol, you may live three years longer––maybe even six years longer, depending on which study you're reading.
However, statin clinical trials have shown marginally significant benefits on mortality, especially in the primary prevention setting. A major limitation of those trials is their relatively short follow‐up. A reduced number of fatal events within a 5‐year follow‐up make mortality benefits unlikely to arise.
Statins can stabilize cholesterol plaque already attached to artery walls, making it less likely to get worse or rupture, causing a heart attack or stroke. "Statins also help remove cholesterol from you blood by causing the liver to express more LDL cholesterol receptors that take cholesterol out of your blood," Dr.
Statins work for people of all ages
Statins can help reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in older people, just as they do in younger people, according to research part-funded by the BHF.
“There was a 25 percent lower risk of dying from any cause among those who were taking a statin, compared to those who never did — and a 20 percent lower risk of dying from a cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack or stroke, among those who started taking a statin after age 75,” says the study's lead author, ...
While statins are highly effective and safe for most people, they have been linked to muscle pain, digestive problems and mental fuzziness in some people. Rarely, they may cause liver damage.
Statin use has been linked to a higher risk of developing diabetes because the medication can fuel mild glucose elevations in predisposed individuals — an effect that can often be countervailed by exercise and losing as little as a few pounds.
Since statins can cause muscle damage, they could theoretically also harm the heart--which is, essentially, a big muscle--although there is no evidence that this is the case.
Although there are some potential side effects long-term for statins, in most cases, if your doctor has identified you as having high cholesterol and needing a statin, the benefits greatly outweigh the risks. Muscle aches are among the most common complaints.
inflammation of the liver (hepatitis), which can cause flu-like symptoms. inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis), which can cause stomach pain. skin problems, such as acne or an itchy red rash. sexual problems, such as loss of libido (reduced sex drive) or erectile dysfunction.
A: Without treatment, the life expectancy of those with familial hypercholesterolemia can be reduced by approximately 15-30 years. However, in people with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia, the life expectancy may only be 20 years or less.
Statins are effective, accessible, and affordable. However, well-known side effects like muscle pain keep some people from taking them.
Summary: As many as one in two patients stop taking statins, reduce the dose or take them irregularly because they believe the cholesterol-lowering drugs cause muscle pain and other side-effects.
Bempedoic Acid: A Statin Alternative to Reduce Cholesterol
Bempedoic acid is sold under the brand name Nexletol on its own and as a combination drug with ezetimibe called Nexlizet.
Statins should be taken with caution if you're at an increased risk of developing a rare side effect called myopathy, which is where the tissues of your muscles become damaged and painful. Severe myopathy (rhabdomyolysis) can lead to kidney damage. Things that can increase this risk include: being over 70 years old.
Many statins work more effectively when they are taken at night. This is because the enzyme which makes the cholesterol is more active at night. Also, the half-life, or the amount of time it takes for half the dose to leave your body, of some statins is short.
A daily pill, bempodoic acid, has the potential to lower risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack or stroke for people who can't or won't take statins.
Ezetimibe is a tablet that lowers cholesterol. It may be prescribed if statins cannot be taken, or alongside a statin for extra cholesterol-lowering. It's a 'cholesterol absorption inhibitor' that limits the absorption of cholesterol in the small intestine.
The Heart Protection Study included more than 20,000 people with cardiovascular disease or diabetes, who received simvastatin 40 mg daily versus placebo [6]. The risk of cardiovascular events was reduced by 18% in subjects aged 70 to 80 years treated with simvastatin and by 24% in those aged less than 65 years [6].
—Italian researchers have shown that discontinuing statins in elderly patients on multiple medications increases risk of cardiovascular outcomes, hospitalization, and death. Do not discontinue statins in older patients as a way to address concerns over polypharmacy.
No surprise there. But half of men, ages to 65 to 74, and 39% of women, ages 75 and older—that's pretty stunning. Combine the 45+ age groups and both genders, and it comes out that one in four Americans, ages 45 and older, are taking a statin. There are roughly 127 million Americans over age 45.
Recent research shows that people 75 and older who go off statins have an increased risk of hospitalization because of cardiovascular problems. Dr. Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, a Mayo Clinic cardiologist, says that many older people who take statins should stay on them.