Not too late for statins to fight strokes after 65
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CHICAGO - Older people who have had a stroke or mini-stroke benefit from cholesterol-lowering statin drugs just as much as younger people do, US researchers said yesterday.
"Even though the majority of strokes and heart attacks occur in people who are 65 and older, studies have found that cholesterol-lowering drugs are not prescribed as often for older people as they are for younger people," Dr. Seemant Chaturvedi of Wayne State University in Detroit said. "These results show that using these drugs is just as beneficial for people who are older than 65 as they are for younger people."
In April, British researchers reported in the New England Journal of Medicine that treating high blood pressure in people 80 and older cut their risk of fatal strokes.
Statins cut the risk of heart attack or stroke by lowering levels of fatty substances such as low-density lipoprotein, or "bad" cholesterol, and triglycerides. They also raise levels of high-density lipoprotein or "good" cholesterol.
Seemant and colleagues studied 4,731 people 18 and older who had a recent stroke or a mini-stroke as part of a study sponsored by
About half were over 65, with an average age of 72. Half were under 65 and had an average age of 54. In each age group, about half were taking Lipitor and the other half were on a placebo. The statin worked equally well in both groups, the researchers reported.
