Prescribing statins to more patients to save more lives, the UK is reviewing its recommendations on these cholesterol drugs.
7 million Britons and 3 million French people are on statins. These drugs that help lower “bad” cholesterol (LDL) levels could be more widely prescribed, reports the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), and therefore save more lives in the UK.
Save more lives
Death from cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death in Britain. In 2010, 18,000 people died from such disorders. However, the risk of developing cardiovascular disease is reduced by 20% over 10 years thanks to statins. But the calculations only take into account patients who have a 20% increased risk of suffering from it one day. According to NICE, prescriptions should be extended to patients at risk by 10%.
The new recommendations also highlight the fact that the calculation of the risk of cardiovascular disease may be underestimated in some patients: patients treated for HIV infection, for serious mental illness, for inflammatory autoimmune disease, or at stage 1. or 2 from chronic kidney disease.
In France, secondary prevention takes precedence
In France, statins are recommended for secondary prevention, that is to say once a cardiovascular disorder has manifested or after a cardiovascular event. But the High Authority of Health (HAS) also opens the prescription to patients at high risk of cardiovascular disease.
In 2013, she noted “a certain misuse of statins in France: an abusive use of statins in primary prevention (…) in people who are not at high risk, at the same time as a failure to prescribe statins in patients. that would justify it. Far from wanting to broaden the recommendations, the HAS is positioning itself more in favor of the most adequate prescription possible.
NICE recalls that statins should not be seen as a sufficient solution by patients: “In addition to taking statins, people with high cholesterol levels and high blood pressure should reduce their consumption of foods high in fat. saturated (meat, cheese, milk), exercise more and control their blood glucose levels by reducing their sugar intake and losing weight. They should also stop smoking, ”says Prof. Mark Barker, director of the NICE Clinical Practice Center.
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