Statins cut heart deaths in men by 28% finds study

Conclusion This new analysis found that men without cardiovascular disease who were prescribed a statin were less likely to go on to develop heart disease or have a major cardiovascular event. These findings from the five-year randomised controlled trial are useful – there's been a lot of debate about whether giving statins to people without any cardiovascular disease is helpful. But it's harder to draw conclusions from the longer term results, as these were from a non-randomised observational period. Potential confounding factors – such as the men's attitude to medicine, risk and health – may have influenced the results. The study has other limitations we should bear in mind: A post-hoc analysis is less reliable than a primary analysis because researchers are better able to cherry-pick the results they want. The original study was carried out more than 20 years ago. Statins used today are usually stronger than those in the WOSCOPS study, and people's lifestyles nowadays are different. For example, more than 40% of men in the study smoked – this is much higher than today's smoking levels. The results may not be applicable to people today. The researchers found little difference between outcomes for men with higher or lower cholesterol levels. That makes it hard to back up their conclusions that cholesterol is the most important factor and people with raised cholesterol are most in need of treatment, regardless of other factors like age. Guidelines from the National In...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Source Type: news