Steven Murphy: How Much Benefit Do Statins Really Provide for Cardiovascular Prevention
Steven Murphy, Medical Director of Concierge Medical Associates, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“‘These findings suggest that treating 100 adults (aged 50-75 years) without known cardiovascular disease with a statin for 2.5 years prevented 1 MACE in 100 adults Statins may help to prevent a first MACE in adults aged 50 to 75 years old if they have a life expectancy of at least 2.5 years.
There is no evidence of a mortality benefit.’
That’s the story from a 2020 Meta Analysis of Eight trials randomizing 65 383 adults (66.3% men) were identified.
The mean age ranged from 55 to 69 years old and the mean length of follow-up ranged from 2 to 6 years.
Only 1 of 8 studies showed that statins decreased all-cause mortality.
The meta-analysis results suggested that 2.5 (95% CI, 1.7-3.4) years were needed to avoid 1 MACE for 100 patients treated with a statin.
To prevent 1 MACE for 200 patients treated (ARR equals 0.005), the TTB was 1.3 (95% CI, 1.0-1.7) years, whereas the TTB to avoid 1 MACE for 500 patients treated (ARR equals 0.002) was 0.8 (95% CI, 0.5-1.0) years.
These findings suggest that treating 100 adults (aged 50-75 years) without known cardiovascular disease with a statin for 2.5 years prevented 1 MACE in 1 adult.
Statins may help to prevent a first MACE in adults aged 50 to 75 years old if they have a life expectancy of at least 2.5 years.
There is no evidence of a mortality benefit.
Prevent heart attack?
2.5 year of treatment to prevent 1 MI in 100 people.
Not exactly the longevity benefit I am looking for.
Those suggesting statins for longevity are clearly unaware of the ITP and should be directed there first.
The UK 🇬🇧 biobank data was more useful than influencer docs telling you to take statins.
Atorvastatin did not help at all….”
Title: Evaluation of Time to Benefit of Statins for the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Events in Adults Aged 50 to 75 Years
Authors: Lindsey C Yourman, Irena S Cenzer, W John Boscardin, Brian T Nguyen, Alexander K Smith, Mara A Schonberg, Nancy L Schoenborn, Eric W Widera, Ariela Orkaby, Annette Rodriguez, Sei J Lee
Read the Full Article on JAMA Network
Title: Association between prescription drugs and all-cause mortality risk in the UK population
Authors: Jonas Morin, Yves Rolland, Heike A. Bischoff-Ferrari, Alejandro Ocampo, Kevin Perez
Read the Full Article on Aging Cell
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