New guidelines for cholesterol-lowering statin drugs mean that an estimated 13 million more people will be eligible to take them, data reveals. The guidelines were released in November last year by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology.
The loosened criteria for users means that a total of 56 million Americans at risk of developing cholesterol-induced heart diseases could begin taking the preventative treatments. While most of the new users will be over the age of 60, the total number stands at around half of all Americans aged 40 to 75 - with the recommendations put forward by the new guidelines questioning the health of a huge section of the adult population.
However, the study's lead author, Dr. Michael Pencina, professor of biostatistics at Duke University's Clinical Research Institute, warns that the recommendations, though more relaxed, do not strictly apply to everybody in that age bracket.""Recommendations are just that -- recommendations," he said. "These guidelines correctly call for a thorough discussion between the doctor and patient about the risks and benefits of statins. It's not like everybody who meets the guidelines should all of a sudden go on statins."
The drugs that fall in the statin family include atorvastatin, simvastatin, lovastatin, pravastatin, and rosuvastatin. The revised guidelines will predominately affect men aged 60 to 75 who had neither heart disease, nor had previously been taking statins for prevention or treatment. Among this group, the number of estimated users is expected to jump from 30 percent to 87 percent. Women in same age group (and with the same positive cholesterol history) would see an increase from 21 percent to 53 percent.
The data parsed data from more than 3,700 participants to extrapolate information on new statin usage habits, with researchers adamant of the jump in statin prescriptions. "By our estimate, there might be an uptick in usage as a result of the guidelines, from 43.2 million people to 56 million, which is nearly half of the U.S. population between the ages of 40 and 75," said Pencina.
Interestingly, the research has also found that 1.6 current users of statins would no longer be found eligible to take the drugs. Typically, this includes younger adults with high cholesterol, though a lessened risk of developing heart disease within ten years.
The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
