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Statins show staying power12 October 2007
Cholesterol-lowering drugs can cut the risk of heart attack for many years after first taking them, a long-term study suggests. The research, carried out by the University of Glasgow, indicates that the beneficial effects of statins on coronary heart disease could persist for at least 10 years after originally taking the medicine. And the researchers found that, compared with placebo, the drug cuts the risk of having a heart attack by over a quarter. "We believe that this remarkable ongoing benefit is due to a stabilizing of existing disease in the coronary arteries and significant slowing of further progression of disease," explained Professor Ian Ford, who led the research. "This benefit appears to have persisted for 10 years and may have conferred a lifelong advantage on those treated with the statin," he added. The research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, followed up participants of The West Scotland Coronary Prevention Study, carried out between 1989 and 1991. Scientists recruited 6595 volunteers with high cholesterol and randomly assigned half to take pravastatin (a type of statin), and half to take a dummy pill (placebo), everyday for five years. In 1995 the first results were published, showing that patients given statins were significantly less likely to have a heart attack or coronary heart disease. Returning to the patients after a further 10 years, Ford et al report that, despite the fact that most volunteers were no longer taking the drug, those who were originally given statins still showed a reduction in heart disease events. "Remarkably, five years of treatment with a statin resulted in 27 percent fewer non-fatal heart attacks or deaths due to heart disease over the period of 15 years," explained Professor Ford. Overall, 15.5 percent of people in the placebo group had a heart attack or died from one, compared with only 11.8 percent of people in the statin group. Heart disease is the country's biggest killer, causing over 110,000 deaths every year in England alone. It's caused by fatty plaques developing in coronary arteries. Statins work by lowering levels of cholesterol in the blood - this is thought to slow plaque formation and reduce the risk of heart disease. Related information
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