Most people over the age of 70 should consider taking statins, the researchers said, adding that statins are cost-effective and lead to improved health outcomes in this age group.
Heart disease and stroke Leading causes of death and disability worldwideAs we age, our risk of heart disease and stroke increases. Statins have been shown to reduce that risk by lowering levels of “bad” cholesterol (low-density lipids) in the blood, and are widely used by middle-aged patients, but are rarely taken by people over 70.
Research now concludes that statin treatment should be considered for most people over the age of 70.
“Many people around the world suffer from preventable heart disease and stroke because of insufficient access to effective, low-cost treatments such as statins,” said Borislava Mikhailova, an associate professor in the Department of Population Health at the University of Oxford and lead author of the study. Improving access to statins for older people would improve their health and be more cost-effective, she added.
The study, published in the journal Heart, evaluated the health benefits of statins in older people in the UK and found that statins are cost-effective and lead to better health outcomes for people aged 70 and over, regardless of whether patients had a history of cardiovascular disease.
The study looked at individual patient data from a large UK statin trial to predict how statin therapy affects the chance of developing heart disease, health-related quality of life, and health-related medical costs over a person’s lifetime.
The researchers then calculated the value of taking statins in more than 20,000 older adults with and without a history of cardiovascular disease.
The researchers found that taking statins, especially at higher doses, significantly increases quality-adjusted life years. Quality-adjusted life years A metric used by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to assess whether a treatment is worth providing in the NHS. According to Nice, the criteria for a treatment being worth providing are: Less than £20,000 per quality-adjusted life year gained.
The costs per quality-adjusted life year gained are less than £3,500 for standard statins and less than £12,000 for more intensive treatments, well below the Nice criteria.
For older adults with no history of cardiovascular disease, the risk reduction was significantly smaller.
The authors cautioned that this was an observational study and could not prove causation.
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Commenting on the findings, Professor Camilla Hawthorne, President of the British Association of General Practitioners, said: “It is reassuring to have further evidence that statins are safe and effective for patients over 70 years of age. It is important that this evidence is taken into account when clinical guidelines are updated.”
Statins are not suitable for all patients, but GPs will prescribe them when appropriate, and encourage patients over 70 to improve their health by eating a balanced diet, quitting smoking and exercising regularly, she added.
“Statins have revolutionized the way we prevent future heart attacks and strokes,” says Dr Sonia Babu Narayan, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation and a cardiologist. The new study shows that statins could potentially be beneficial for older people, especially given the UK’s ageing population, she adds. Even taking into account the limitations of the study’s findings, “there may be lifelong benefits for people over 70 years old.”
Dr Mashqul Khan, chairman of the Royal Society of Medicine’s department of geriatrics, said: “The risk of cardiovascular disease in frail older people can be significantly reduced with the new statins, which also have a positive effect on cognition and preventing dementia. Statins should be started early. They have an anti-inflammatory effect on blood vessels and help prevent strokes and heart attacks even in people with normal cholesterol levels, and also help prevent diabetic complications.”
