Adults 75 and older who stopped statins had similar three-year survival, trial finds
Stopping statins in adults 75 and older with no history of heart disease or stroke does not increase the risk of death over three years compared with continuing statins, although "bad" cholesterol rose around 50% in those who stopped, according to a randomized controlled trial published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity. Statins are a key medication for the prevention of atherosclerotic…
A recent trial published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity has found that discontinuing statin medication for adults aged 75 and older with no prior history of heart disease or stroke does not significantly impact their three-year mortality rate, major cardiovascular events, or quality of life. The study, led by Fabrice Bonnet et al., randomly assigned 1,160 participants to either stop or continue their statin medication and found no significant difference in outcomes between the two groups after three years.
However, discontinuing statins led to a significant increase in LDL cholesterol levels, which rose by around 50% on average. The researchers caution that while their findings suggest that stopping statins in older adults with no prior cardiovascular disease may not increase the risk of death over three years, further research is needed to fully understand the long-term cardiovascular effects and to confirm these findings.
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