This article discusses the risk/benefit of statins for an 84-year-old man with elevated cholesterol levels. While studies on statins in older adults are limited, age alone is a significant risk factor for heart disease. The article highlights that even with good cholesterol and blood pressure, older adults may benefit from statins, but individual factors and potential side effects should be considered.
Dear Dr. Roach: I am a healthy 84-year-old who exercises regularly, eats meat and dairy sparingly, doesn’t smoke, and has a BMI about 25. (I’m 6 feet, 1 inch tall, at 185 pounds.) My yearly wellness test was excellent, except my cholesterol and LDL levels were 250 mg/dL and 150 mg/dL, respectively. What is the risk/benefit level of statins for me? B.B. We don’t really know. There haven’t been many studies about starting statins in people as old as you.
However, I can tell you that an 84-year-old man has a high risk of heart disease simply by being 84, even if his cholesterol and blood pressure levels are good. I put your information into a risk calculator (most of them are only appropriate to the age of 79) without knowing your blood pressure levels, and the calculator said that you have about a 20% chance of having a heart attack or stroke in the next 10 years. Many experts believe that statin drugs aren’t quite as effective in people above 75; however, because age alone is a risk for heart disease, they still may get a significant benefit from statins. My practise is to discuss the options with my patients. The benefits probably outweigh the risks in most, and some of my older patients choose to start medication. My best guess is that you could reduce your risk from about 20% to 16%. The risk of serious side-effects is low. Older adults who have other serious medical conditions or take many different medications that could potentially interfere with statins will have less to gain and more to lose with statin therapy. I generally recommend statin therapy only for the healthiest of my older patients (more than 75 years old).
STATINS HEART DISEASE CHOLESTEROL AGING RISK BENEFITS
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