LDL-cholesterol lowering medication linked to lower mortality in high-risk patients
Mass General Brigham Heart and Vascular Institute researchers have found that high-risk patients who had not previously experienced a heart attack or stroke had a lower risk of death after taking the cholesterol-lowering drug evolocumab (on top of standard cholesterol-lowering therapy) as part of a clinical trial, compared with those taking a placebo. Results were presented at the ESC Congress…
High-risk patients without prior heart attacks or strokes who took the LDL-cholesterol lowering medication evolocumab, in addition to standard cholesterol-lowering therapy, were found to have a lower risk of death compared to those taking a placebo, according to research presented at the ESC Congress 2026 and published in Circulation.
The study analyzed 12,257 trial participants with atherosclerosis, high-risk diabetes, and elevated low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol despite optimized lipid-lowering therapy. After a median follow-up of 4.6 years, all-cause mortality was 20% lower among those in the evolocumab group, with estimated five-year mortality rates of 7.9% compared to 9.7% in the placebo group.
The researchers noted consistent mortality reductions in both atherosclerosis and high-risk diabetes groups, with the mortality benefit beginning around 1.5 years of therapy.
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