You
know the benefits. Have you and your doctor talked about the risks?
by Stephanie Thurrott |
December 5, 2018
A study published Tuesday in the
Annals of Internal Medicine questions whether there’s enough
emphasis on the risks of statins, compared to the benefits.
“Most studies haven’t
looked for side effects. So, it’s very important that a study like this brings
up the possibility of side effects,” says Paul D. Thompson, a statin expert and
chief of cardiology at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut. “It’s an important
paper—it opens debate.”
There’s solid evidence for the
benefits of statins. They lower the risk of heart attack, stroke, and deaths
from heart-related causes. So, if you’re at risk for cardiovascular disease
your doctor will likely prescribe a statin.
Their use is
widespread. Almost 39 million Americans
take statins. They are prescribed for 28% of people age 40 and up,
and 48% of people age 75 and up.
Risks are real
But statins aren’t
all upside. The drugs are linked with muscular disorders, liver and kidney
problems, cataracts, hemorrhagic stroke, type 2 diabetes, cancer, nausea, and
headache.
Researchers suspected
that the recommendations for statins focused more on the benefits than the
risks. So, they compared men and women age 40 to 75 who took statins with those
who did not.
They found that the
benefits vs. risks of statins can vary based on age and gender, as well as on
the type of statin.
Statins are generally
prescribed for people who have a 7.5 to 10% risk of cardiovascular disease in
the next 10 years, regardless of their age or gender.
But according to this
study, that guideline may be low.
What they found
Researchers found
that younger men—age 40 to 44—needed a 14% or higher 10-year risk of
cardiovascular disease before they could expect to see the benefits of statins
outweighing the risks.
For older men, age 70
to 75, that number rose to 21%.
Younger women—age 40
to 44—saw that benefits outweighed risks when their 10-year cardiovascular
disease risk hit 17%.
For older women, age
70 to 75, that number climbed to 22%.
Statins and you
And not all statins
are the same, so the researchers separately examined four commonly prescribed
statins. They found that atorvastatin and rosuvastatin scored better than
pravastatin and simvastatin in terms of benefits outweighing risks.
Thompson cautions
that further research is needed to examine the study’s results. “Maybe the risk
group should be higher before we treat, but I wouldn’t make big changes based
on one paper,” he says.
Should you
re-evaluate your use of statins?
“Patients should have
a doctor they trust who they can talk this over with. These are not simple
decisions,” Thompson says.
“But statins really
are lifesaving drugs,” he adds. “They prevent a lot of cardiac events in the
right population. My thoughts are that the benefits outweigh the risks.”
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