A provocative study published in the Lancet argues that everyone over the age
of 50 should be taking statin drugs to lower their risk of “cardiovascular
events”, the common euphemism for heart attacks, strokes, cardiac arrhythmias,
and sudden death from cardiovascular problems.
In this study, the researchers claim that
even people with no major added risks of heart problems, the so-called
“low-risk” individuals experienced small but significant drops in their risk
for a heart attack or other cardiovascular event if they were taking a statin
compared to low-risk people who weren’t taking these drugs.
It’s hard to know what to do with that
advice.
Overall, despite what you may read in chat
rooms where people who are unhappy for some reason are generally way
over-represented, statins are pretty easy drugs to tolerate, and so far (this
could change in an instant), their long-term risks seem to be minimal at worst.
However, taking a drug for life – and this
is where this advice would lead you to – when you are well to begin with is an
issue we have little experience with.
As always, it comes down to you and your
preferences: there is no road map to follow, just a series of suggestions, and
you have to decide for yourself which suggestions to follow.
