[ad_1]
PARIS, April 16 – Millions of patients worldwide taking statins to reduce the risk of heart disease are failing to reach the recommended levels of cholesterol reduction after two years of treatment, a new study said.
Statins – a class of drugs designed to reduce cholesterol from heart disease and stroke – are among the most prescribed drugs in the United States and Great Britain.
The cholesterol reduction industry is worth billions of dollars, but the guidelines on people who must take statins are often unclear.
A team of researchers in Britain examined the public health records of 165,000 patients taking the drug and found that less than one in two achieved the recommended "healthy" cholesterol reduction of 40% in two years.
"Statins work and are effective, but some trials have shown variations in responses in some patients," said Ralph Kwame Akyea, associate researcher at the University of Nottingham's School of Medicine and Health Sciences. .
"But we have shown that some people do not reach this level (safe cholesterol) and that the reduction in their risk is lower," he told AFP.
Akyea's study, published in the journal Heart, found that people started on average taking statins from 62 years old. Nearly 23,000 cases of cardiovascular disease had been reported within six years of statin therapy.
In total, 51% of patients had an insufficient drop in cholesterol levels, even while taking the drugs.
Akyea pointed out that the study – the largest of its kind to date – failed to establish why some patients responded positively to statins, while others did not.
"Some people would probably have stopped taking their medication, maybe they would have had side effects," he said.
"Genetic variation could also play a role. It's not everyone who reacts to the drug and there are currently studies on the genetics of the drug's response. "
Millions of additional patients expected
Recent amendments to the prescribing guidelines will provide statins for more than 55 million people in the United States and 12 million people in Britain over the next few years.
Akyea and her team suggested that better guidance and monitoring was needed to ensure that the statins in question were taking the correct doses for the prescribed time.
Marcio Bittencourt, from the University Hospital of Sao Paulo, wrote in a related editorial that the results of the study were "clearly alarming".
He however pointed out that statins had been shown to significantly reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in a high percentage of patients at risk.
"Patients and society need to be informed of the scientific evidence documenting the benefits of lipid-lowering therapy," Bittencourt said.
"Anti-statin propaganda based on pseudoscience should be strongly disavowed." – AFP
[ad_2]
Source link