A study by Queen Mary University of London and the universities of Oxford and Sydney suggests that starting cholesterol-lowering statin therapy early could have long-term benefits for people at high risk of developing heart disease. The study, which was presented at the congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC 2022) in Barcelona, ensures that the use of the drug – the most popular cholesterol-lowering lipid modifier – could lower the risk of ischemic heart disease and stroke in a 25%. “Discontinuing statin treatment, unless advised by a doctor, does not seem to be a wise option”, highlights the author of the research, Dr. Runguo Wu, from Queen Mary University, who insists that an early interruption of this treatment “could substantially reduce protection against heart disease.” According to the researchers, “exaggerated claims” about the side effects of statins could be behind their “underuse by people at increased risk of cardiovascular disease.” Using a microsimulation model with data from 118,000 Cholesterol Treatment Trialists (CTT) trial participants and 500,000 UK patients, the study estimated the effects of statin therapy if people continued treatment for life, if they stopped it at age 80 or if they delayed its start five years before turning 45. Although the researchers do not know “when treatment should be started and for how long to optimize its effects,” according to Runguo Wu, this study confirms that “People with higher cardiovascular risk begin to accrue benefit from the beginning of treatment and have more to lose than those with low risk if they delay it.” A mixed case count According to the study, stopping treatment at age 80 erases much of the potential benefit, especially in people with low cardiovascular risk. People who start taking them at age 50 but stop at age 80 may lose 73% of the benefit if they have low cardiovascular risk and 36% if it is high, since “those at high risk start to benefit before”. Although in people under 45 years of age with low cardiovascular risk, a five-year delay in taking statins would have little impact, discontinuation in people under 45 with high risk would mean a 7% loss of potential benefit. There are also gender differences, since the risk for women is lower, stopping treatment is more harmful for them.n