My Healthy Heart Blogs
Statins Prevent Heart Disease Long-Term
10/11/07
Treatment Options
Men who took pravastatin for five years to treat high cholesterol significantly reduced their risk of coronary events 10 years after treatment, according to a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
The West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Study tested the effectiveness of pravastatin in men with high cholesterol who did not have a history of heart attack. The group who received the statin treatment had a cardiovascular-related death rate that was 24 percent lower than the group receiving a placebo.
Even a decade later, researchers noted a similar trend. The group that had originally taken statins was still experiencing a lower death rate from cardiovascular causes. Five years after the study was completed, the risk of death from coronary heart disease or nonfactal heart attack was 10.3 percent in the placebo group and 8.6 percent in the statin group. Ten years after the study the rate was 15.5 percent in the placebo group and 11.8 percent in the statin group.
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