That’s just one of the statistics presented today stemming from research published in The New England Journal of Medicine that measures the impact of the statin use guidelines released in November 2013. “When the new guidelines came out there was a lot of discussion about their impact,” says study author Dr. Michael Pencina of Duke University’s department of biostatistics and bioinformatics in the division of cardiology. “We knew that we had the data from the NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys) study, so we analyzed it based on the new guidelines to determine just what that impact would be.” The analysis shows the amount of Americans who should take the controversial medication could be astounding:
Among adults without heart disease who are over 60: 77% are recommended to use statins vs. 48% under the old guidelines. Men older than 60 who are not taking statins and do not have cardiovascular disease: 87.4% are recommended to use statins vs. 30.4% under the old guidelines.Healthy women older than 60: 53.6% are recommended to use statins vs. 21.2% under the old guidelines.
The reason: The new guidelines open the gates wider as to who is considered to be at risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) by stating that those with a 7.5% 10-year risk of developing CVD, including stroke, should consider taking statins, compared to the old guideline of 10% 10-year risk and not including stroke. Risk is determined by an assessment score based on things like whether you are being treated for high blood pressure, have diabetes, high cholesterol, and your race, sex, age, and weight. “The numbers tell a story about how much heart disease we still have in the U.S.,” Pencina says. “In fairness, they are just guidelines to start the conversation.” Suzanne Steinbaum, director of Women’s Health & Heart Disease at Lenox Hill Heart and Vascular Institute of New York, agrees: “This is a conversation starting point, but this isn’t by any means the way to determine if your patient need to be on a statin.” The way she looks at is, if you’re a candidate for statin use, your doctor should say: “According to the new guidelines, you need to be on a statin because of X, Y, and Z factors. While you can’t change a lot of these factors, let’s look at the ones we can change with diet and exercise; otherwise, you will need to go on statin therapy.” “I think that it is really important to make the patients accountable,” Steinbaum says. “People have got to change their lives. And I am hoping that the takeaway of these numbers is how important it is to get these lifestyle issues under control. Because the big picture here is that 6-year-olds are being put on statins, and half of our population, if not more, are suggested to be put on a statin. This is insanity; and it is really about how we are living." More from Prevention: Your Guide To Your Healthiest Heart
