Older
Patients Benefit from Statin Use-Study
Reuters, November 18, 2002
CHICAGO - Elderly patients who use
cholesterol-lowering drugs may enjoy the same benefits as their younger
counterparts, researchers reported on Monday, based on results of a
landmark trial.
Researchers
found a 15 percent combined reduction in the risk of heart attack and
stroke among a group of patients over the age of 70, but most of that
benefit came from the reduction of heart attack risk.
The
three-year trial involved 5,804 patients aged 70 to 82 in three European
centers, including 3,239 patients with blood vessel disease and 2,565
patients who were at high risk of contracting the disease because of
smoking, high blood pressure and diabetes.
Patients
were given Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s pravastatin, sold under the name of
Pravachol, which lowers cholesterol by blocking the enzyme that makes it.
It found that pravastatin, a member of the "statin" class of
drugs, significantly reduces coronary events by 19 percent and deaths
linked with coronary events by 24 percent.
The
study, presented at a meeting of the American Heart Association, provided
the first scientific evidence of the effectiveness of such drugs in
treating heart disease in older
patients.
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© 2002 Global Action on Aging
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