The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has just issued new guidelines for the use of cholesterol-lowering drugs. It is now recommended that doctors consider prescribing a statin starting at a younger age.
Forty-year-olds, without any sign of heart disease, may be considered for a statin drug if they have certain risk factors that include cigarette smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, or elevated cholesterol.
The idea is to prevent heart disease, which remains the leading killer of Americans.
Appearing on WNPR’s Where We Live, cardiologist Dr. Peter Shulman said the new guidelines conform to what the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology have been recommending since 2013.
"It looks at a calculation of your 10-year risk of having a cardiac event -- a coronary artery event," said Shulman. "That’s a heart attack or stroke or death from one of those conditions. And if your risk is over 7.5 percent in the next 10 years, it’s recommended that you be on a cholesterol-lowering drug."
Many doctors were skeptical of the aggressiveness of the 2013 guidelines. And this latest report is even more aggressive. There’s also been some debate about statins being over-prescribed, and a concern about potential side effects.
Shulman said the guidelines are meant to assist doctors in their patients’ treatment. Exercise, diet, and weight loss are also recommended measures.
