As reported in the New York Times, the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology have released new guidelines to reduce cardiovascular risk, including the use of cholesterol-lowering statin medications. The new guidelines were based on a four-year review. Among other changes, the new guidelines (1) count strokes as well as heart attacks in risk calculations and (2) no longer tie cholesterol levels to numerical targets to support continued use of statins.
The new guidelines generally recommend statins (1) for all high risk patients (such as those with a previous heart attack) except in rare circumstances and (2) for other people with a risk of heart attack or stroke of 7.5% or greater over the next 10 years, based on various factors.
According to the article, a quarter of people in the country over age 40 take statin medications. The article states that it is unclear how the new guidelines will change clinical practice.
The article also points out criticisms by some in the medical community regarding the new guidelines, including controversy surrounding the new recommendations concerning cholesterol level targets. For example, some experts worry that patients will lose motivation to control their cholesterol without target numbers.
