A million more patients to get statins
pharmafile | May 30, 2008 | News story | Sales and Marketing |Â Â Â
Statin prescribing could be set to increase massively once again following new NICE guidance on cholesterol-lowering treatments.
An extra 1.5 million people could be prescribed a statin to reduce their chances of suffering a stroke or heart attack under a new clinical guideline aimed at people with a high risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Statin prescribing has increased dramatically over the last five years as evidence accumulates to the drugs' impact on heart disease and stroke.
NICE deputy chief executive Dr Gillian Leng said the guideline would provide healthcare professionals with some much-needed clarity on managing patients with and without pre-existing CVD.
"As a result, the guideline should also help to reduce the current variation in prescribing lipid modifying drugs in primary care," she added.
NICE wants primary care computerised patient records to be used to identify patients aged 40-75 who have not yet suffered from CVD, but are at high risk of doing so.
Dr John Robson, a GP and chair of NICE's guideline development group, said the recommendations formed a major public health initiative.
"Systematic review of CVD risk could involve more than three million people in assessment and treatment decisions with the potential to prevent around 15,000 heart attacks and strokes every year," he said.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in England and Wales and high cholesterol levels are, along with smoking and raised blood pressure, risk factors that can be reduced.
Patients found to have a 20% of greater risk of developing CVD within 10 years should be prescribed a statin and NICE recommends the generic simvastatin be used at a 40-mg dose unless contraindicated.
Those at a lower risk level should consider trying to first tackle 'modifiable' risk factors through lifestyle changes like quitting smoking, exercising more and cutting down on alcohol.
Those who have already suffered from CVD should be offered cholesterol-reducing drugs without waiting to see if such lifestyle changes can help managing their risk of further CVD episodes.
