A large clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that atorvastatin reduces cardiovascular events in healthy older people, though the trial did not show a statistically significant improvement in disability-free survival.
The STAREE trial, whose full results appear in the New England Journal of Medicine, examined whether atorvastatin — a cholesterol-lowering drug (statin) already widely prescribed in middle age — offers meaningful benefit to adults aged 70 and over who do not yet have heart disease. The journal also published an accompanying editorial titled Statins in Older Adults — Evidence at Last, suggesting the findings address a long-standing gap in the evidence base for prescribing statins to this age group.
Statins work by reducing low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol — often called “bad” cholesterol — in the blood, which is linked to a lower risk of heart attacks and strokes. But their use in people over 70 has been debated for years, partly because older patients were often excluded from the original trials that established statins as a standard treatment.
Notably, while the trial did find a reduction in major cardiovascular events among participants taking atorvastatin, its primary endpoint — disability-free survival — did not reach statistical significance, with rates of 12.8% in the treatment group compared with 13.6% in the placebo group.
The findings were presented at ESC Congress, the annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology, one of the largest cardiology gatherings in the world. The New England Journal of Medicine, which published the results, is a peer-reviewed medical journal and one of the most cited in clinical medicine.
Source: @NEJM