Statins ‘halve risk of heart attack in healthy women’
Reported November 19, 2009
Statins can halve the risk of cardiovascular disease in women who would not normally be considered for treatment, says a recent analysis.
An analysis of data from women from the JUPITER trial found 20 mg rosuvastatin treatment reduced their risk of cardiovascular disease by 46% compared to placebo.
The new analysis presented at the American Heart Association meeting this week has been welcomed by experts who say it is one of the few trials to look at the benefits of statins in primary prevention in women.
Men are at increased risk of heart attacks and strokes, but women are more likely to die from CVD with over 100,000 deaths in the UK in 2007.
The data comes from the JUPITER study that looked at the effect of statin treatment in 17,802 apparently healthy people with elevated CRP levels, who would otherwise not be considered candidates for statin therapy.
NICE currently recommends primary prevention with statins in patients with a 10-year cardiovascular risk of 20% or greater and the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society has called for a review of this guidance in July following the evidence from JUPITER.
Dr Sarah Jarvis, a GP in London and the Royal College of General Practitioners’ spokesperson for womens health, said that cardiovascular disease should not be mistaken as an ‘old mans disease.
‘There has long been support for the wider use of statins in women, but we didnt have the outcomes data to support these recommendations,’ she said.
‘This data is extremely exciting as this level of risk reduction among women has never been seen before in a primary prevention statin outcome trial.’
Source : Pulse, CMP Medica