How the stats stack up: two views- ON PRIMARY PREVENTION

AGAINST STATINS

‘Even among high-risk patients, taking a statin for five years results in 1.8% of people living just four months longer on average – but for 98.2% the statin has no effect on life expectancy.

‘This means that the average increase in life expectancy from taking a statin is 14 days. In other words, there is a roughly one-in-50 chance that you will be one of the people who will live for four months extra if you take this medication.

‘But about 17% of those who take a statin will suffer side-effects that affect their quality of life.’

FOR STATINS

‘25% of people will die of their first heart attack – but we don’t know in advance who they are going to be, which is why prevention is so important. The latest evidence shows that in all aspects, the benefits of statins outweigh risks, even among those at lowest risk of a vascular event. For example, the CTTC meta-analysis published last year in The Lancet showed that even among people with a five-year CVD risk below 10%, every 1mmol/l reduction in LDL-cholesterol meant 11 fewer major vascular events per 1,000 patients over five years.’ .

SEE ALSO OTHER RECENT ARTICLES ON STATINS IN THERAPEUTICS SECTION.

G.MOHAN.